i 


^^ 

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*     JUL 

111910 

^^caTsS^ 

Division 

BV 

Section 

■2&52; 

,^i 

G3r 

1^10 

Rev.     SAMUEL    R.    GAMMON,    D.    D., 

Lavarus,  Brazil. 
Missionary  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church. 


THE  EVANGELICAL  INVASION 
OF  BRAZIL: 


OR 


5^Y  OF  Pmcc.^. 
^^'1-  11  1910 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELICAL 

MISSIONS  IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE 

SOUTHERN  CROSS. 


/BY 

SAMUEL  R.  GAMMON,  D.  D. 

For  Ttuenty  Years  Missionary  of 

the  Southern  Presbyterian 

Church  in  Brazil. 


RICHMOND,  VA.: 

Presbyterian  Committee  of  Publication. 


Copyright 

BY 

R.  E.  MAGILL, 

Secretary  of  Publication, 

1910. 


Printed  by 
Whittet  &  Shepperson 
Richmond,  Va. 


To  the  memory  of  her  who,  from  childhood 
up,  in  all  relations  of  life,  exemplified  the 
beauty  and  the  strength  of  the  gospel  ; 
who,  with  gladness  of  heart,  gave  fourteen  years 
of  joyous  and  fruitful  service  to  the  winning  of 
Brazil  for  Christ  ;  whose  memory  abides  as  a  rich 
fragrance  wherever  she  was  known  in  Brazil  and 
in  the  homeland  ; 

To  the  memory  of 

MiUie  Jlumptteps;  Gammon, 

This  book  is  dedicated  as  a  loving  tribute 
by  her  husband. 

The  Author. 


PREFACE. 


South  America  seems  to  be  coming  into  her  own.  The 
*' Neglected  Continent"  has  at  last  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  the  world.  Formerly,  one  never  saw  a  magazine 
article  about  South  American  countries  and  affairs;  but 
within  recent  years,  she  has  had  her  share  of  them. 
Travelers  who  formerly  knew  of  only  one  tourist's 
route — that  which  follows  the  sun — have  now  learned 
that  certain  roads  lead  north  and  south;  and  not  a  few 
long  to  "Round  the  Horn."  This  revival  of  interest,  or 
to  be  more  acurate,  this  birth  of  interest  has  affected 
the  students  of  Missions,  too,  and  recently,  when  Dr. 
Gammon  spent  a  few  months  in  the  United  States,  he 
was  urged  by  pastors,  by  leaders  of  Missions  Study 
Classes,  and  by  the  Secretaries  of  Mission  Boards,  to 
prepare  a  book  giving  some  account  of  Brazil  as  a  Mis- 
sion field,  and  telling  the  story  of  "Missions  in  the  Land 
of  the  Southern  Cross." 

It  was  the  purpose  of  Dr.  Gammon  to  prepare  a 
volume  which  would  present  not  only  the  work  of  the 
Southern  Presbyterian  Church  with  which  he  is  con- 
nected, but  would  be  serviceable  as  a  text  book  in  the 
hands  of  all  the  denominations  now  represented  in  the 
mission  work  in  Brazil.  The  time  of  preparation  allowed 
him  being  so  short,  and  mission  stations  in  Brazil  being 
distant  from  each  other,  it  was  impossible  to  secure  data 
as  complete  as  was  desired;  but  the  reader  will  still  find 
that  the  author's  purpose  was  quite  fully  realized.    Mem- 


6  Preface 

bers  of  all  evangelical  churches  will  find  interesting  in- 
formation concerning  their  own  work  in  Brazil,  as  well 
as  general  information  concerning  the  land  and  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  needs  of  evangelical  missionary  effort.  The 
detailed  statistics  of  each  mission's  work  as  far  as  they 
could  be  secured,  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix 
arranged  in  compact  form.  A  map  giving  the  location  of 
most  of  the  mission  stations  adds  greatly  to  the  com- 
pleteness of  this  feature  of  the  work. 

It  was  the  author's  hope  to  have  the  work  appear 
during  the  summer  of  1909,  inasmuch  as  the  subject  of 
special  study  in  connection  with  the  Young  People's 
Missionary  Movement,  and  with  the  Woman's  United 
Study  Course  would  be  during  the  Fall  and  Winter, 
South  America.  The  issue  of  the  book  during  1909 
would  also  have  been  timely,  because  the  year  1909 
marks  the  semi-centennial  of  the  beginning  of  Presby- 
terian mission  work  in  Brazil,  and  so  this  would  be  pre- 
eminently the  time  to  call  the  attention  of  Evangelical 
Christendom  to  the  needs  of  the  great  Southern  Re- 
public. For  reasons  which  need  not  be  detailed,  the  pub- 
lication has  been  delayed  somewhat  so  as  to  put  it  early 
in  1910. 

The  work  in  its  original  plan  had  the  hearty  approval 
of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  and  it  was  largely 
through  the  encouragement  of  the  Secretaries  of  Mis- 
sions, Drs.  Chester  and  Reavis,  that  Dr.  Gammon  con- 
sented to  undertake  so  arduous  a  task.  After  the  book 
was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterian  Committee 
of  Publication  to  prepare  for  the  press,  it  was  found  that 
considerable  revision  of  some  parts  of  the  work  would 


Preface  7 

be  necessary  in  order  to  give  the  book  its  final  shape. 
It  would  have  been  far  better  if  this  revision  could  have 
been  done  by  the  author  himself,  but  Brazil  and  Rich- 
mond are  far  apart,  and  time  was  precious,  so  it  was 
left  to  the  Editorial  Superintendent  of  Publication,  the 
present  writer,  to  do  this  necessary  work  of  revision. 
This  has  given  him  an  opportunity  to  become  very 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  book  which  follows,  and 
he  considers  it  an  honor  and  a  privilege  to  have  had  this 
slight  connection  with  it. 

The  reader  will  find  the  book  thoroughly  enjoyable 
from  beginning  to  end.  It  furnishes  in  very  brief,  yet 
fascinating  form,  just  the  information  we  want  to  have 
about  the  geography,  the  natural  resources,  the  history 
of  the  country  and  the  character  of  the  people.  It  will 
be  specially  interesting  to  the  student  of  missions  as  fur- 
nishing a  much  needed  text  book  upon  Missions  in 
Brazil;  not  confined  in  its  scope  to  any  one  denomina- 
tion, it  affords  the  knowledge  which  very  many  desire 
upon  the  work  of  all  the  evangelical  denominations  there. 
One  special  point  of  interest  about  the  book  is  its  fair 
and  dispassionate,  yet  powerful  presentation  of  the  need 
for  missionary  work  in  Brazil,  and  indeed,  in  all  Roman 
Catholic  countries.  Taken  all  in  all.  Dr.  Gammon  fur- 
nishes a  strong  plea,  both  for  the  continuance  and  wider 
extension  of  'The  Evangelical  Invasion"  of  our  sister 
Republic  in  the  South.  He  thrills  us  with  the  story  of 
what  Protestant  Missions  have  already  accomplished, 
and  issues  a  trumpet  call  to  continue  and  enlarge  the 
work. 

R.   A.    Lapsley 

Richmond,  Va. 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  I:     THE  LAND. 

Rio  and  its  Environs — Physical  Characteristics  of  the  Coun- 
try— The  Mountain  Ranges  dividing  the  country  into 
three  great  Physical,  Divisions  and  into  four  Hydro- 
graphic  Basins;  the  Amazon  Region,  the  La  Plata  Re- 
gion, and  the  Oriental  Region  containing  tWO  hydro- 
graphic  shub-divisions — the  Sao  Francisco  Valley  and  the 
Seaboard  Section — the  Geology  and  Mineral  Wealth — 
the  Flora— the  Fauna— Chief  Products :  Cereals,  Lumber, 
Cotton,  Cane,  Rubber,  Coffee,  Cattle— Possibilities  of 
great  Commercial  and  Industrial  Development:  all  the 
Material  Resources,  Means  of  Transportation,  Popula- 
tion, Climatic  Conditions  -3 

CHAPTER   H:     THE    PEOPLE. 

Component  Elements  of  Population:  Indians,  Europeans 
Africans— Four  Classes :  Pure  Whites,  Pure  Blacks,  Pure 
Indians,  Mixed  Race — Proportions  of  Each — Number  of 
Inhabitants — the  Brazilian  Physically:  His  Size,  his 
Food,  his  Dress — His  Characteristics:  Courteous,  Oblig- 
ing, Emotional,  Demonstrative,  Mentally  Alert  and  Pre- 
cocious— Their  Literature,  Journalism — the  Brazilian  pre- 
fers Town  to  Country  Life,  the  Club  to  the  Home— the 
Brazilians  a  Nation  of  Diplomats — Brazil  a  Country  of 
Contrasts — Her  Future    32 


lo  Contents 

..  CHAPTER  III:  THEIR  HISTORY. 
Three  Periods:  Colonial  Brazil,  1500-1822 — the  Capitanias 
Independent — the  Central  Authority,  Governors-general 
— the  French  Invasion  and  Colonies — the  Spanish  Dom- 
ination— ^the  Dutch  Invasion — Republican  Conspiracy  of 
the  Eighteenth  Century — Tiradentes — Brazil  a  Kingdom 
of  the  Royal  Family— Imperial  Brazil,  1822-1889 — "Inde- 
pendence or  Death" — Reign  of  Pedro  I. — Reign  of  Pedro 
II. — Paraguayan  War,  Emancipation,  Bloodless  Revolu- 
tion of  1889 — Republican  Brazil— Military  Regime,  Civil 
Regime    49 

CHAPTER  IV:     THE  NATION'S   NEED— BRAZIL  AS   A 
MISSION  FIELD. 

The  Skepticism  as  to  Brazil's  Need— Effects  of  Romanism 
'after  Four  Centuries :  Unbelief  and  Superstition — Rome 
Responsible— Her  Docrines  Drive  Men  into  Skepticism— 
Her  Attitude  toward  Free  and  Progressive  Institutions 
has  same  effect — Rome's  Influence  Seen  in  Brazil;  espe- 
cially in  Ecuador— Her  Influence  on  Moral  Life  of 
People    ; 68 

CHAPTER  V:     THE   NATION'S   NEED— BRAZIL   AS    A 
MISSION  FIELD  (Continued). 

Rome  Leads  the  Unlettered  Masses  into  Superstition  and 
Idolatry — In  its  Form,  Romanism  is  Pagan — Romanism 
Compared  with  Buddhism,  with  Pagan  Rome's  Religion, 
with  Religion  of  Aztecs  of  Mexico— Relation  between 
Romanism  and  Paganism  of  Babylon— Unity  of  all  Man- 
made  Religions— Rome  Pagan  also  in  Spirit :  Her  Teach- 
ings Subversive  of  Fundamental  Doctrines  of  Biblical 
Christianity — Specimens  of  Devotional  and  Sermonic 
Literature  of  Rome — Brazil  Needs  the  Gospel,  and  can 
get  it  only  through  the  work  of  Evangelical  Missions. . .     86 


Contents  i  i 

CHAPTER    VI:      THE    EVANGELICAL    INVASION    OF 
BRAZIL— THE  FORCES  IN  ACTION. 

The  French  Huguenots  in  the  Bay  of  Rio — the  Dutch  in 
Pernambuco — Modern  Missions  :  Methodists  in  1835 — 
Dr.  Kalley,  1855 — Presbyterians  in  1859 — Southern  Pres- 
byterians in  1869 — Southern  Methodists  in  1876 — South- 
ern Baptists  in  1882 — Episcopalians  in  1889 — South 
American  Evangelical  Mission — Rev.  Jushtus  Nelson — 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association — the  Bible  Socie- 
ties— the  Work  wisely  begun  and  wisely  developed — an 
Unusual  Policy  , 106 

CHAPTER  VII :  THE  FRUITS  OF  VICTORY. 
Fifty  Years  Ago  and  Now — Presbyterians,  Northern  and 
Southern — Independent  Presbyterians — Methodist  Vic- 
tories— Baptist  Trophies — Episcopal  Successes — Other 
Victories  of  Other  Forces — ^the  Native  Churches — A 
Native  Congregation — Rio — Publication  Work  of  Mis- 
sions: the  Papers — Educational  Work,  Presbyterian — 
Methodist — Baptist— Invisible  Results  that  Cannot  be 
Tabulated    124 

CHAPTER  VIII :    PAPAL  BRAZIL'S  APPEAL  TO 
PROTESTANT    AMERICA. 

Reinforcements  Needed— Enlarged  Equipment — Brazil  asks 
Help  from  America— Not  Lion's  Share,  but  Her  Just 
Share— the  Commercial  Bonds  Emphasize  the  Appeal — 
Political  Affinity  adds  Emphasis  to  it— Brazil's  Part  in 
the  Future  of  America  and  the  World  Emphasizes 
it— America  Final  Battle-ground  between  Papal  and 
Protestant    Christianity— Brazil's     Spiritual    Hunger    is 


12  Contents 

Brazil's  Call — Brazil  our  Samaria — Brazil's  Special,  Claim 
on  Protestant  America — the  Success  cf  the  Work 
Strengthens  the  Appeal — Recapitulation  198 

Appendix  I. — Statistics,    169 

Appendix  II. — Missionaries  and  the  Native  Church,  ....   173 

Appendix   III. — Industrial   Education,    177 


Rev.    EDWARD    LANE,    D.    D., 
Pioneer  Missionary  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   COUNTRY. 


The  stranger,  on  his  first  visit  to  Rio,  as  he  sweeps 
around  one  of  those  graceful  curves  of  the  matchless  bay, 
will  receive  a  distinctly  pleasant  impression  as  he  comes 
suddenly  into  a  small  but  beautiful  public  garden,  and 
sees  in  the  centre  of  it  a  handsome  bronze  monument 
standing  upon  its  gray  pedestal  of  granite.  This  monu- 
ment was  unveiled  in  1900  to  commemorate  the  discovery 
of  Brazil  just  four  centuries  before.  The  central  figure 
of  the  group  is  Pedro  Alvares  Cabral  who,  in  the  year 
of  grace  1500,  gave  to  Portugal  and  to  the  world  a  vast 
empire  in  the  western  hemisphere.  Cabral,  following 
in  track  of  his  illustrious  countryman,  Vasco  da  Gama, 
was  sailing  from  Portugal  to  India.  Advised  by  his 
king,  Dom  Manuel,  to  veer  to  the  west  so  as  to  avoid, 
the  calms  off  the  coast  of  Africa,  he  was  caught  by  the 
equatorial  current  and  borne  across  the  Atlantic.  On 
the  twenty-second  day  of  April,  he  sighted  a  mountain 
near  the  coast  of  what  is  now  the  southern  part  of  the 
State  of  Bahia.  Two  days  later  an  excellent  port  was 
found,  and  the  mariners  went  ashore.  After  ten  days, 
Cabral  proceeded  on  his  way  to  India,  sending  back  to 
Portugal  one  of  his  ships  to  announce  to  his  monarch 
the  discovery  of  the  new  land. 


14         The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

Our  navigator  supposed  that  he  had  found  an  island, 
and  he  named  it  *'the  Island  of  the  True  Cross,"  Little 
did  he  dream  that  the  land  he  had  discovered  was  part 
of  a  vast  continent,  and  that  it  was  to  become  the  home 
of  a  great  nation  owning  one-fifth  of  the  American 
continent  and  a  fifteenth  part  of  the  land  surface  of  the 
globe,  of  a  people  destined  to  play  an  important  part 
in  the  world's  history. 

(In  the  pages  that  follow,  the  reader  will  be  made 
acquainted  with  this  wonderful  land  and  with  its  attrac- 
tive people.  He  will  be  asked  to  consider  the  religious 
conditions  and  needs  of  the  people ;  and  will  be  informed 
as  to  what  has  been  done  and  what  should  be  done  to 
meet  these  moral  and  spiritual  needs  and  to  plant  in  the 
nation's  heart  that  tree  whose  leaves  are  for  the  nation's 
healing.) 

The  majority  of  those  who  visit  Brazil  receive  their 
first,  most  pleasing  and  most  abiding  impression  of  the 
physical  beauties  of  the  country  from  their  entrance  into 
the  bay  of  Rio,  and  no  book  that  attempts  to  speak  of 
Nature's  pleasant  moods,  as  revealed  here,  can  fail  to 
mention  the  charm  of  that  wonderful  harbor.  What 
must  have  been  the  impression  of  Amerigo  Vespucci,  who 
came  as  pilot,  if  not  as  commander,  of  the  first  two 
expeditions  sent  by  Dom  Manuel  to  explore  the  country 
discovered  and  reported  by  Cabral,  if  he  forced  the  prow 
of  his  ship  through  the  narrow  opening  between  Sugar- 
loaf  Mountain  on  the  left  and  the  bluff  promontory  of 
Santa  Cruz  on  the  right,  and  rode  into  that  most  beau- 
tiful of  bays?  The  mariners  entered  the  bay  on  the 
first  day  of  January,  and  as  they  sailed  through  its 
narrow  entrance  they  supposed  they  were  entering  a 
river.      In   commemoration   of   the  day,   they   called   it 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  15 

*'o  rio  de  Janeiro" — the  River  of  January — and  the  mis- 
nomer has  held  good  ever  since. 

The  bays  of  Naples,  Sydney  and  Rio  are  confessedly 
the  world's  most  beautiful  harbors.  The  saying  "See 
Naples  and  die"  has  become  classic;  but  if  human  art 
has  done  more  to  beautify  the  Italian  port,  Nature's 
hand  was  more  lavish  at  Rio.  Well  does  the  writer 
remember  the  day,  almost  twenty  years  ago,  when  he 
stood  upon  the  top  of  Corcovoda — a  mountain  peak  in 
the  suburbs  of  Rio — and  drank  in  the  wondrous  and 
varied  beauty  of  that  incomparable  scene.  Such  a  com- 
bination of  earth  and  sea  and  sky,  of  busy  human  mart 
and  calm  and  restful  mountain  view  will  hardly  be  found 
elsewhere.  On  one  hand,  to  the  north  and  west,  the 
city  with  its  busy  life  and  gay  coloring,  and  the  bay 
dotted  with  islands  and  alive  with  its  shipping  lay  at 
the  traveller's  feet,  while  in  the  distance  the  Organ 
Mountains  in  their  indigo  hues  and  with  their  bold  sharp 
pinnacles  piercing  the  sky  formed  the  background  of 
the  picture.  On  the  other  hand,  to  the  east  and  south, 
the  majestic  ocean  stretched  away  until  the  blue  of  the 
sea  was  mingled  with  the  blue  of  the  "sky. 

But  not  all  of  Brazil  is  like  Rio  and  its  environs. 
There  are  many  beautiful  and  picturesque  landscapes, 
but  there  are  also  many  stretches  of  dreary  and  unat- 
tractive country.  The  country,  speaking  generally,  of- 
fers the  same  contrast,  as  compared  \vith  the  United 
States,  that  the  United  States  offers,  as  compared  with 
England.  There  are  great  stretches  of  outlying,  uncared 
for  lands,  and  this  gives  to  the  country  that  unkept,  un- 
finished, or  even  neglected  appearance  common  to  new 
and  sparsely  populated  lands.  The  impression  received 
as  we  look  upon  the  broad  expanse  is  very  pleasing; 


i6         The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

but  when  we  examine  a  smaller  part  of  the  landscape  in 
minute  detail,  we  often  find  it  disappointing.  There  are 
sections  of  the  country  under  a  very  high  state  of  culti- 
vation; but  speaking  of  the  country  generally,  it  may  be 
said  that  we  miss  the  clean  smooth  meadows,  the  well 
tilled  fields,  the  finished  lawn,  the  velvet  sward. 

The  forests  are  decidedly  disappointing.  The  dense 
wall  or  expanse  of  green  is  very  pleasing  and  restful  to 
the  eye  when  seen  in  the  distance ;  but  when  approached, 
it  proves  to  be  an  impenetrable  jungle  matted  with 
tangled  vines  and  undergrowth.  The  impression  received 
in  school-boy  days  when  we  studied  geography  and 
read  of  the  naked  Indian  cutting  his  way  with  difficulty 
through  these  tangled  virgin  forests  is  strictly  accurate. 
In  the  virgin  forests,  in  many  parts  of  Brazil,  splendid 
forest  giants  are  to  be  found,  and  in  the  Amazon  region, 
many  of  them  rival  the  red-woods  of  California.  But 
ordinarily  we  find  fewer  handsome  trees  in  the  forests 
of  Brazil  than  in  those  of  North  America;  and  when 
they  are  found,  they  are  so  covered  over  with  vines  and 
so  hidden  by  the  undergrowth  that  we  are  unable  to 
enjoy  their  stately  beauty. 

The  traveller  who  sails  along  the  eastern  coast  of 
Brazil  will  get  the  impression  that  the  country  is  exceed- 
ingly mountainous.  It  is  not  so  much  so,  however,  as 
it  appears.  A  range  of  mountains  skirts  the  coast  most 
of  the  way  from  Pernambuco  to  the  extreme  south, 
and  there  are  many  other  ranges,  as  will  presently  ap- 
pear; but  back  from  the  coast,  and  in  the  northern  and 
western  parts  of  the  country  there  are  immense  plains. 
Most  of  the  land  in  Brazil,  though,  is  more  than  a  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea  level. 

The  mountain  systems  of  Brazil  are  very  interesting, 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  17 

and  one  of  them  offers  the  only  exception  to  an  almost 
invariable  rule.  As  a  rule,  the  mountains  of  the  New 
World  presents  a  striking  contrast  to  those  of  the 
Old.  In  the  Old  World,  almost  all  of  the  more  impor- 
tant mountain  chains  follow  the  general  course  of  east 
and  west,  while  all  of  those  in  the  New,  with  a  single 
exception,  run  north  and  south.  The  single  exception 
to  this  rule  is  the  Parima  chain,  running  along  the  north- 
ern border  of  Brazil,  separating  it  from  the  Guyanas, 
Venezuela,  and  Columbia,  and  dividing  the  waters  of 
the  great  Amazon  basin  from  those  of  the  Orinoco  and 
the  Caribbean  watershed,  generally. 

On  the  extreme  west,  the  ice-crowned  peaks  of  the 
Andes  cast  their  shadows  across  the  deep  valleys  of  the 
border-land  between  Brazil  and  her  western  neighbors — 
Peru  and  Bolivia. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  Serra  do 
Mar  that  runs  parallel  with  the  coast  from  the  borders 
of  Pernambuco  to  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  now  and  again 
coming  right  down  to  the  coast  and  bathing  its  feet  in 
the  ocean's  brine,  and  at  other  times  receding  to  the  dis- 
tance of  a  hundred  miles.  In  some  places  the  summit 
of  the  mountains  is  so  close  to  the  shore  that  rainfall  ten 
miles  away  crosses  great  states,  and  finally  reaches  its 
ocean  home  through  the  La  Plata  at  Montevideu.  Run- 
ning parallel  with  this  coast  range,  and  finally  merging 
itself  into  the  longer  range  in  the  state  of  Sao  Paulo,  near 
the  great  seaport  town  of  Santos,  is  the  Serra  do  Espin- 
hago  (the  backbone),  the  highest  of  Brazil's  ranges 
except  the  Andes.  The  peak  of  Itatiaia,  only  about  ten 
thousand  feet  high,  but  the  loftiest  of  Brazil's  moun- 
tains, is  in  this  Espinhago  chain.  This  peak  is  seen  to 
fine   effect  as   the   tourist  travels  by  rail   from  Rio  to 


i8  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

Sao  Paulo;  only  a  few  miles  from  the  railroad,  it  lifts 
its  stately  head  as  it  stands  guard  over  the  beautiful 
valley  of  the  Parahyba  do  Sul. 

The  most  interesting  of  Brazil's  mountains  ranges, 
however,  is  the  Serra  das  Vertentes  (chain  of  the  water- 
sheds), so  called  because  it  forms  the  dividing  ridge  be- 
tween the  great  river  basins  of  Brazil  and  of  the  states 
south.  This  low  mountain  chain,  beginning  near  the 
coast  on  the  northeast,  describes  a  vast  and  irregular 
semi-circle,  sweeping  clear  across  the  great  country,  and 
finally  losing  itself  in  the  foot-hills  of  the  Andes. 

These  mountain  chains  divide  Brazil  into  three  great 
physical  sections,  and  into  four  hydrographic  basins.  A 
glance  at  the  map  will  show  these  physical  divisions  and 
these  river  basins  in  clear  and  easy  outline. 

First,  we  have  in  the  north  the  Amazon  Region  or  the 
Amazon  basin.  To  this  basin  belongs  also  the  river 
Tocantins,  which  mingles  its  waters  with  those  of  the 
mighty  Amazon  as  they  together  pour  their  floods  into 
the  Atlantic.  This  river  basin,  stretching  from  the 
Andes  to  the  sea,  and  from  the  Parima  mountains,  five 
degrees  north  of  the  equator,  to  latitude  sixteen  or 
seventeen  south,  contains  more  than  half  of  Brazil's  ter- 
ritory, is  the  largest  river  basin  in  the  world,  and  forms 
the  most  extensive  network  of  inland  navigation  on 
the  globe. 

Answering  to  the  Amazon  Region  in  the  north,  and 
separated  from  it  by  the  low  range  of  the  Vertentes,  lies 
the  La  Plata  basin  in  the  south.  This  mighty  river  takes 
the  name  of  La  Plata  when  it  receives  its  last  tributary, 
the  Uruguay,  only  a  few  miles  above  Buenas  Ayres. 
Through  most  of  its  course  of  more  than  two  thousand 
miles,  it  is  known  as  the  Parana :  its  head  waters  are  the 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  19 

Rio  Grande,  which  takes  its  rise  on  the  slopes  of  Itatiaia, 
already  mentioned  as  the  highest  peak  in  Brazil. 

The  third  section  of  Brazil  is  the  Oriental,  east  of 
the  Coast  Range  in  the  south  and  of  the  Serra  das 
Vertentes  in  the  north.  This  section  is  quite  narrow 
from  Rio  south;  but  from  Rio  north  it  widens  out  and 
embraces  quite  a  large  part  of  north  and  north-central 
Brazil.  It  includes  two  of  the  four  hydrographic  divi- 
sions of  thq  country — namely,  the  Basin  of  the  Sao 
Francisco  river,  and  the  seaboard  section,  which  is  sub- 
divided into  a  number  of  secondary  river  basins,  whose 
waters  run  directly  east  to  the  Atlantic.  The  Sao  Fran- 
cisco is  a  noble  stream,  having  its  basin  shut  in  on  the 
south  and  west  by  the  Serra  des  Vertentes  and  on  the 
east  by  the  Serra  do  Espinhago,  it  flows  north  for  more 
than  a  thousand  miles,  draining  the  larger  part  of  the 
great  states  of  Minas,  Bahia  and  Pernambuco;  then 
turning  abruptly  east  and  south,  it  seeks  its  ocean  home. 

In  connection  with  the  mountain  systems,  it  will  be 
well  that  something  be  said  of  Brazil's  geology  and  min- 
eral wealth.  Brazil's  geological  history  has  not  been 
sufficiently  studied,  and  little  that  is  satisfactory  has 
been  written  on  the  subject.  An  able  commission,  ap- 
pointed by  the  federal  government,  is  now  at  work  on 
the  abundant  and  interesting  materials,  and  large  and 
valuable  results  may  be  looked  for. 

In  the  mountain  chains  of  the  country,  we  find  in 
abundance  the  two  great  systems  of  rocks — the  lauren- 
tian  and  the  huronian.  In  the  Serra  do  Mar  and  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  Serra  do  Espinhago  the  older  for- 
mation— the  laurentian — abounds,  or  is  found  exclu- 
sively. Here  we  find  large  deposits  of  iron,  and  most 
of  the  varieties  of  precious  stones  are  taken  from  the 


20  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

mountains  where  the  laurentian  formation  predominates. 
The  other  mountain  ranges  of  central  Brazil  belong  to 
the  huronian  series ;  and  here  it  is  that  the  inexhaustible 
treasures  of  iron,  the  rich  deposits  of  gold,  the  priceless 
diamond  and  the  topaz  are  all  found.  Most,  if  not  all  of 
the  Parana  basin  belongs  to  the  carboniferous  age,  as  do 
other  parts  of  Brazil,  as  well.  But  in  spite  of  this  fact, 
the  country  is  still  dependent,  in  large  measure,  upon  im- 
ported coal.  In  all  of  the  southern  states — Sao  Paulo,  Pa- 
rana, Santa  Catherina  and  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  coal  mines 
are  to  be  found ;  but  only  in  two  last-named  states  have 
these  mines  been  worked  to  any  considerable  extent,  and 
even  there  it  seems  to  be  a  question  still  as  to  whether 
or  not  coal-mining  will  become  an  enterprise  of  vast 
proportions  and  of  great  profit.  Coal-mines  are  said  to 
exist  also  in  the  mountains  on  the  extreme  western 
borders  of  Matto  Grosso. 

Even  in  early  colonial  days  Brazil's  mineral  wealth 
was  known  to  be  great.  Early  settlers  from  Sao  Paulo 
and  Rio  journeyed  to  the  interior  of  Minas,  opened 
mines,  and  carried  back  their  golden  treasure.  For  more 
than  a  century,  during  the  colonial  period,  streams  of 
wealth  from  the  gold  mines  of  Minas  poured  into  the 
treasury  of  Portugal  to  enrich  the  mother  country.  Not- 
withstanding this,  the  vast  mineral  wealth  of  Brazil  may 
be  said  to  remain  practically  untouched.  Whole  moun- 
tains of  iron  ore  of  the  finest  quality,  rich  veins  of  gold, 
and  precious  stones  in  inexhaustible  quantities  await 
the  coming  of  wealth  and  of  enterprise  for  their  devel- 
opment, to  the  enriching  of  Brazil  and  the  world. 

The  limits  of  this  book  preclude  anything  like  a  full 
account  of  the  wonderful  flora.  The  fact  that  it  is  a 
tropical  country,  and  one  of  great  rainfall,  would  natur- 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  21 

ally  suggest  that  the  flora  would  be  rich  and  varied. 
Most  of  the  fruits  and  vegetables  of  the  torrid  zone, 
and  many  of  those  of  temperate  climes,  are  to  be  found 
in  Brazil,  and  the  fertile  soil  produces  them  in  great 
abundance.  An  entire  chapter  would  be  needed  to  de- 
scribe the  beauties  of  the  orchids  that  abound  in  the 
forests  of  Brazil;  another  would  be  required  to  tell  of 
the  hard- woods,  some  of  them  so  heavy  that  they  sink 
in  water;  and  it  would  read  like  a  fairy  tale  were  the 
story  told  of  houses  in  which  rosewood  was  used  for 
sills  and  sleepers  and  door-posts;  another  chapter  still 
would  be  taken  up  with  an  account  of  the  medicinal 
plants  and  the  dye-woods  that  abound  in  the  forests.  It 
was  one  of  these  dye-woods,  giving  a  brilliant  red  color 
much  like  the  color  of  a  live  coal — ''braza"  in  Portu- 
guese— ^that  gave  the  name  Brazil  to  the  country  dis- 
covered by  Cabral,  and  called  first  Vera  Cruz  and  later 
Santa  Cruz.  With  comparatively  little  labor,  flower 
gardens  become  dreams  of  beauty,  and  as  the  rainy 
season  comes  on,  the  fields  are  sometimes  all  but  carpeted 
with  wild  flowers  of  the  most  brilliant  hues. 

Brazil's  fauna,  like  her  flora,  is  vast  and  varied.  The 
domestic  animals  are  those  commonly  seen  in  Europe  and 
in  North  America;  the  savage  beasts  that  roam  the 
jungles  of  Africa  and  Asia  are  unknown.  Wild  game, 
both  large  and  small,  of  the  finny  as  well  as  of  the  feath- 
ered and  furred  varieties,  is  found  in  greater  or  less 
abundance  in  almost  every  part  of  the  country ;  and  very 
frequently,  as  "the  gray  dawn  is  breaking,"  "the  horn 
of  the  hunter  is  heard  on  the  hill." 

The  most  conspicuous  representatives,  however,  of 
Brazil's  fauna — the  most  conspicuous  both  for  number 
and    aggressiveness — are    those    belonging    to    the    class 


22  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

that  may  be  characterized  as  pestiferous  insects. 
The  flying,  the  hopping  and  the  crawhng  varieties 
are  all  found  in  distressing  abundance;  and  often- 
times, in  spite  of  one's  efforts  at  self  control,  his 
finger  tips,  as  the  Ayrshire  bard  would  phrase  it, 
"will  be  notice  taking."  A  much-traveled  lady  recently 
''touring"  South  America  told  a  good  story  of  efforts  in 
an  Italian  hotel  to  escape  these  small  but  enterprising 
assailants.  That  story  could  be  duplicated  and  improved 
on  by  residents  in  Brazil. 

One  of  the  questions  most  frequently  asked  in  the 
States  of  the  visitor  from  Brazil  is:  What  is  the  prin- 
ciple product  of  Brazil  ?  A  question  more  difficult  to 
answer  could  hardly  be  asked.  What  would  the  man 
from  the  States  answer,  if  asked  in  Europe,  what  is  the 
principal  product  of  his  country?  If  he  were  from 
Louisiana,  he  would  probably  answer,  "sugar-cane" ;  if 
from  South  Carolina,  he  would  say  "cotton";  if  from 
Illinois,  his  answer  might  be  "corn" ;  and  if  from  some 
other  parts,  he  might  say  "wheat."  In  a  country  as 
large  as  Brazil,  there  is  naturally  a  great  variety  of 
products,  and  what  is  the  principal  product  in  one  section, 
is  not  the  principal  thing  in  another. 

In  some  of  the  southern  states,  Parana  for  example, 
the  pine  forests  have  become  a  very  important  source  of 
revenue;  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  within  the  last 
few  years,  the  cultivation  of  rice  has  become  a  very  im- 
portant item;  in  the  state  of  Bahia,  tobacco  and  cotton 
are  the  staple  products;  while  in  Pernambuco  cotton 
and  especially  sugar-cane,  hold  the  first  place. 

Among  the  most  important  of  Brazil's  articles  of  ex- 
port is  rubber,  and  the  production  of  rubber  is  the  great 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  23 

source  of  wealth  in  a  large  part  of  the  Amazon  Valley. 
There  are  a  number  of  rubber-producing  trees  in  Brazil, 
and  one  or  another  of  these  varieties  is  found  in  almost 
all  of  the  states  from  Sao  Paulo  northward.  But  the 
great  rubber  region  is  the  upper  Amazon  and  its  tribu- 
taries, where  vast  forests  of  the  seringueira — the  most 
valuable  of  all  the  rubber  trees — stretch  away  in  every 
direction,  especially  to  the  south.  It  is  stated  in  a  book 
quite  recently  published,  "The  New  Brazil,"  by  Mrs. 
Marie  Robinson  Wright,  that  the  rubber-producing 
area  of  Brazil  covers  about  a  million  square  miles,  or 
almost  one-eighth  of  the  entire  territory.  What  fabulous 
sources  of  wealth  lie  hidden  in  those  forests !  What 
marvelous  possibilities  of  development  of  this  great  in- 
dustry when  an  eighth  of  Brazil's  territory  will  produce 
rubber  to  advantage ! 

"Sermgueira"  is  the  name  given  to  the  rubber-tree 
of  the  Amazon  Valley,  and  the  forest  is  called  a  *'serin- 
gal."  It  is  said  that  the  Indians  called  the  tree  "hevi" ; 
hence  the  first  botanical  name  "hevea  guianensis"  given 
by  the  scientist  who  first  studied  it  in  Guayana  and  in- 
troduced it  to  the  world ;  hence  also  the  modern  botanical 
name  ''hevea  braziliensis."  Mrs.  Wright,  in  her  book, 
describes  it  as  a  handsome  tree,  resembling  "the  Euro- 
pean ash  in  both  trunk  and  foliage." 

Dr.  Francis  Clark,  in  his  book  "The  Continent  of 
Opportunity,"  calls  Brazil  "the  world's  coffee-cup."  So 
it  is,  and  however  much  may  be  said  and  written  of  the 
seringueira  with  its  graceful  trunk,  its  foliage,  its  blos- 
soms and  its  useful  rubber,  the  coffee-tree  will  ever  hold 
its  place  in  the  imagination  of  men  as  the  national  sym- 
bol of  Brazil;  for  unquestionably  civilized  man  thinks 
far  more  of  what  he  drinks  for  his  breakfast  than  of 


24  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

what  he  wears  to  protect  his  shoes  from  the  mud  or 
his  shoulders  from  the  showers. 

The  richest  gold-mines  of  Brazil  have  not  been  found 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  but  in  the  coffee  orchards  on 
her  hill-slopes  and  mountain-sides.  Three-fourths  of  the 
world's  coffee  is  grown  in  Brazil,  and  no  small  part  of 
the  world's  good-cheer  comes  from  its  coffee  cup.  The 
centre  of  the  coffee  cultivation  in  Brazil  is  in  the  state 
of  Sao  Paulo,  but  in  the  adjoming  states  of  Rio  and 
Minas,  as  well  as  in  Sao  Paulo,  the  coffee  orchards 
flourish;  and  throughout  the  central  part  of  the  eastern 
section  of  the  country,  hundreds  of  mihions  of  these 
shapely  little  trees  adorn  the  hill  and  mountain-sides. 
Coffee  is  pre-eminently  Brazil's  export  crop,  amounting 
to  about  three  times  the  value  of  the  rubber,  which  comes 
in  the  second  place  among  the  exports.  The  value  of 
the  annual  export  amounts  to  more  than  a  hundred  mil- 
lion dollars. 

At  any  time,  a  well-kept  coffee  orchard  is  an  inter- 
esting and  an  attractive  sight.  The  trees  are  planted 
in  long  straight  rows,  and,  when  full  grown,  have  an 
average  height  of  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet.  The  tree 
is  rather  cylindrical  in  shape,  its  long,  slender  and  nimble 
branches  droop  gracefully  almost  to  the  ground.  Ordi- 
narily, the  coffee  orchard  has  had  no  cultivation,  the 
planter's  only  care  being  to  keep  the  ground  clear  of 
weeds  and  grass;  but  now  many  think  it  of  great  advan- 
tage to  have  the  ground  lightly  plowed  from  time  to  time. 

At  all  times,  the  coffee  orchard  is  attractive ;  when  in 
full  leaf,  the  mass  of  dark  glossy  green  is  restful  to  the 
eye,  and  beautiful.  When  the  fruit  is  ripening,  the  ber- 
ries— some  green,  some  bright  yellow  and  some  brilliant 
red — add  a  distinct  charm,  as  they  mingle  with  the  green 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  25 

foliage.  But  when  the  orchard  is  in  full  flower — then 
it  is  that  we  have  indeed  a  thing  of  beauty.  The  long, 
graceful  branches  are  often  a  mass  of  beautiful  white 
bloom.  The  blossom  is  a  small,  white  jasmine-shaped 
flower,  with  a  bit  of  yellow  in  the  centre.  It  exhales 
a  delicate  fragrance  that  is  delightful. 

The  orange  blossom  is  the  traditional  flower  for  the 
bridal  wreath;  but  a  branch  from  the  coffee-tree  in  full 
flower,  gracefully  bent  into  the  proper  shape,  would 
make  an  ideal  nuptial  crow^n.  The  fashionable  belle 
could  wish  for  no  more  beautiful  or  fragrant  diadem 
for  her  wedding  day.  The  coffee  bloom  should  be  chosen 
as  the  national  flower  of  Brazil. 

But  when  all  has  been  said  that  can  be  said  for  the 
beauty  and  the  value  of  the  seringueiras  of  the  Amazon 
Valley  and  for  the  coffee-trees  of  Sao  Paulo  and  Minas, 
if  we  are  looking  for  the  most  important  of  Brazil's 
source  of  wealth,  we  shall  have  to  give  the  first  place 
to  the  meek-eyed  bovine  that  lends  his  neck  to  his  master 
for  draft  purposes,  gives  his  flesh  to  his  master  for  food, 
and  leaves  behind  him  his  skin  for  his  master's  foot- 
wear. Rubber  is  a  valuable  industry  in  the  Amazon 
Valley,  or  in  one-eighth  of  Brazil's  territory;  coffee 
orchards  flourish  in  the  central  mountain  section  of  east- 
ern Brazil ;  but  herds  of  cattle  are  found  everywhere. 
They  roam  the  vast  plains  of  the  interior  regions,  and 
graze  on  the  hillsides  of  the  great  agricultural  sections 
of  the  country.  Everywhere  cattle  are  to  be  found,  and 
everywhere  they  constitute  a  more  or  less  important 
source  of  revenue. 

It  requires  no  prophetic  vision  to  foresee  a  wonderful 
commercial  and  industrial  development  for  this  highly 
favored  land  of  Brazil.     The  country  abounds  in  all  the 


26  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

natural  resources  necessary  thereto.  It  was  the  cele- 
brated scientist,  Louis  Agassiz,  who  predicted  that  the 
centre  of  the  world's  civilization  would  one  day  be  found 
in  the  Amazon  Valley.  Whether  this  prophecy  is  ever 
fulfilled  or  not,  the  day  of  prosperity  and  power  seems 
near  at  hand  for  Brazil. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  value  of  the 
pine  forests  of  the  southern  states  of  Brazil,  where  the 
lumber  industry  is  becoming  an  important  one.  But 
there  are  other  and  more  valuable  timbers  in  the  land 
than  the  Parana  pines.  The  forests  all  over  the  country, 
and  especially  those  immense  ones  on  the  Amazon  and 
its  tributaries,  have  inexhaustible  supplies  of  the  finest 
of  hard  woods;  they  must  attract  attention,  sooner  or 
later,  and  an  enterprise  of  vast  proportions  will  be 
developed. 

Allusion  has  been  made,  too,  to  the  mineral  resources. 
They  are  equal,  probably,  to  those  of  any  other  country, 
and  these  buried  treasures  only  wait  the  coming  of  labor 
and  capital.  The  richest  of  all  the  resources,  however, 
are  the  agricultural.  A  celebrated  scientist  of  the  last 
century  said  that  the  Amazon  region  alone  would  pro- 
duce food  supply  for  the  population  of  the  globe,  and  yet 
the  Amazon  region  is  only  about  half  of  Brazil's  area. 
The  country  produces  all  that  is  needed  to  supply  the 
necessaries,  the  comforts,  and  many  of  the  luxuries  of 
life,  and  where  all  of  these  elements  exist  in  such  mar- 
velous abundance,  a  civilization  of  vast  agricultural  and 
industrial  wealth  must  result  therefrom. 

The  time  was  when  Brazil's  industrial  development 
was  greatly  hindered  by  the  lack  of  coal;  but  that  time 
is  past,  or  is  rapidly  passing.  Not  only  does  Brazil  now 
produce  some  of  the  coal  she  uses,  but  the  electric  current 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  2^] 

has  come  to  dispute  the  absolute  sway  of  King  Coal. 
Formerly,  all  large  manufacturing  enterprises  and  all 
large  development  of  railroads  were  dependent  upon  the 
carbon  lump;  but  now  in  these,  as  well  as  in  hundreds 
of  other  enterprises  of  our  modern  civilization,  the 
electric  spark  is  used,  and  is  the  successful  rival  of  the 
black  diamond.  As  the  empire  of  electricity  expands, 
Brazil's  industrial  problems  will  find  increasingly  easy 
solution.  There  are,  in  the  mountain  glens,  num- 
berless small  streams  available  for  electric  plants,  thus 
putting  light  and  power  within  easy  reach  of  almost 
every  town,  village  and  hamlet.  And  while  this  is  true, 
the  number  of  large  falls  and  splendid  cataracts  in  the 
gieat  rivers,  yielding  boundless  electric  energy,  is  simply 
amazing.  Not  to  mention  others,  the  Paulo  Alfonso 
falls  in  the  Sao  Francisco  river,  where  a  much  larger 
volume  of  water  than  Niagara's,  makes  a  plunge  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  have  an  estimated  electric  energy 
of  two  million  horse-power;  and  the  great  falls  in  the 
Iguassu,  said  to  be  much  larger  than  Niagara,  were  not 
known  to  the  world  until  a  few  years  ago. 

But  vast  natural  resources  do  not,  of  themselves, 
build  up  great  agricultural  and  industrial  enterprises ; 
easy  and  economical  means  of  transportation  are  also 
necessary.  Has  Brazil  these  ready  means  of  communica- 
tion? The  railroads  of  Brazil — about  eleven  thousand 
miles  of  them  now  in  operation — are  entirely  confined  to 
the  more  densely  populated  zone  along  the  seaboard,  and 
do  not  penetrate  more  than  five  or  six  hundred  miles  into 
the  interior.  Even  the  eastern  belt  is  poorly  supplied 
with  roads,  and  by  no  means  do  they  satisfy  the  needs. 
But  Brazil  is  just  beginning  her  development — the  roads 
will  come.    But  there  are  other  means  of  communication, 


28  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

which,  in  large  part,  solve  the  difficulty.  There  is  a  coast 
line  of  nearly  five  thousand  miles,  well  supplied  with 
excellent  harbors;  and  a  most  remarkable  aid  to  com- 
merce will  be  found  in  the  wonderfully  extensive  and 
complete  network  of  navigable  rivers  in  almost  every  part 
of  the  country.  Probably  no  country  in  the  world  is 
more  favored  in  this  respect  than  Brazil.  Not  to  men- 
tion the  innumerable  smaller  rivers  that  are  navigable 
for  considerable  distances,  there  are  three  vast  river  sys- 
tems that  pierce  the  very  heart  of  the  country,  in  easy 
communication  with  the  sea. 

Beginning  in  the  south,  the  first  of  these  great  river 
systems  is  the  La  Plata.  Following  the  Paraguay  on  the 
west,  river  boats  can  go  up  along  the  western  side  of 
the  state  of  Matto  Grosso,  along  the  border  of  Bolivia,  al- 
most to  the  divide  between  the  La  Plata  and  the  Amazon 
basins.  On  the  east,  the  tributaries,  should  railroads 
be  built  around  a  few  falls  and  rapids,  would  open  up 
the  interior  commerce  of  the  states  from  Rio  Grande  to 
Minas.  The  second  of  these  systems  is  the  Sao  Fran- 
cisco. Interrupted  only  by  the  Paulo  Alfonso  falls, 
around  which  a  railroad  is  already  built,  this  waterway 
opens  up  a  navigation  of  more  than  a  thousand  miles, 
right  into  the  heart  of  the  great  state  of  Minas.  Several 
of  the  tributaries  of  the  upper  river  are  also  navigable 
for  considerable  distances.  But  the  other  river  systems 
of  Brazil  and  of  the  world  are  insignificant  when  com- 
pared with  the  network  formed  by  the  Amazon  and  its 
affluents.  In  this  great  basin,  there  are  more  than  twenty- 
five  thousand  miles  of  inland  navigation  before  the  first 
falls  are  reached.  One  is  staggered  by  the  thought  of 
the  possibilities  in  such  a  region. 

Brazil,  at  first  sight,  seems  to  be  at  a  disadvantage, 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         29 

as  compared  with  Mexico,  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
in  that,  while  these  countries  have  a  seacoast  on  their 
western  border  as  well  as  on  the  eastern,  Brazil  has  on 
its  western  border  the  Andes,  cutting  off  all  maritime 
communication  in  that  direction.  A  few  minutes  study 
of  the  map,  however,  and  a  word  or  two  of  explanation, 
will  show  the  possibility  of  a  colossal  enterprise  that 
would  open  the  centre  of  Brazil  to  agricultural  and  indus- 
trial development  with  a  minimum  of  railroad  building. 
The  water-shed  between  the  Orinoco  river  and  the  Negro, 
the  principal  northern  tributary  of  the  Amazon,  is  very 
low;  so  low,  in  fact,  that  a  certain  stream  in  the  border- 
land becomes  tributary  to  both,  sending  part  of  its  waters 
north  to  the  Orinoco  and  part  south  to  the  Amazon.  The 
same  thing  may  be  said  of  the  divide  between  the  waters 
of  the  Madeira,  one  of  the  Amazon's  southern  tributaries 
and  those  of  the  Paraguay.  There  are  low  marsh  lands 
in  the  western  part  of  the  state  of  Matto  Grosso,  where 
both  rivers  take  their  rise.  It  is  by  no  means  impossible 
that  canals  may  be  dug  connecting  these  river  basins,  and 
opening  up  inland  navigation  from  the  mouths  of  the 
Orinoco  to  Buenos  Ayres.  Here  is  a  work  worthy  of 
the  great  captains  of  industry.  What  visions  arise  as  one 
contemplates  the  possibilities  of  the  enterprise ! 

To  a  remarkable  degree,  Brazil  possesses  the  natural 
elements  of  a  wonderful  material  development ;  but  one 
essential  thing  is  lacking,  namely,  the  human  element. 
Fertile  plains,  majestic  rivers,  mineral  wealth,  and  bound- 
less forests  will  not,  of  themselves,  beget  prosperity; 
man's  hand  and  brain  must  harness  the  mighty  cataract, 
tame  the  electric  fire,  dig  the  golden  store  from  the 
bowels  of  earth,  and  till  the  plains  that  they  may  laugh 
under  their  harvests  of  golden  grain.     Brazil  needs  the 


30  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

human  hand  and  the  human  brain  to  call  into  action  and 
life  the  wonderful  material  resources  with  which  the 
Creator  has  endowed  the  land.  Will  this  essential  factor 
be  always  lacking?  Who  can  believe  it?  When  we  con- 
sider the  overcrowded  population  of  many  of  the  Euro- 
pean countries,  and  then  look  at  the  vast  stretches  ol 
unpeopled  land  in  Brazil;  when  we  think  how  gaunt 
famine  stalks  abroad  among  those  crowded  multitudes 
of  the  Old  World,  and  how  the  fertile  lands  of  the  New 
reach  out  beckoning  hands,  offering  peace  and  plenty; 
when  we  remember  the  needs  there  and  the  resources 
here,  can  we  doubt  that  Nature's  law  of  supply  and  de- 
mand will,  in  years  to  come,  people  the  vast  plains  of 
this  New  World  with  the  hungry  multitudes  of  the  Old? 

Brazil  has  all  of  the  material  resources  needed  for  a 
great  civilization,  and  she  is  calling  for  the  population 
needed  to  build  it  up.  Her  material  resources  attract 
the  population,  and  her  climatic  conditions  favor  its 
rapid  increase. 

Because  the  larger  part  of  Brazil  lies  within  the 
tropics,  most  people  think  of  it  as  a  land  of  eternal 
summer  and  blazing  heat.  The  idea  is  not  correct, 
and  a  few  days  spent  in  the  uplands  of  Sao  Paulo 
or  Minas  in  the  month  of  May  or  June  would  dispel  it 
once  for  all.  Snow  and  ice  are  never  seen,  save  in  the 
extreme  southern  states,  and  but  rarely  even  there.  The 
mercury  rarely  goes  above  ninety  in  the  hot  season  of 
December  to  March,  or  below  forty  in  the  cold  months 
of  May  to  July.  Being  south  of  the  equatorial  line, 
Brazil's  seasons  are  naturally  the  reverse  of  those  in  the 
northern  hemisphere.  We  burn  in  January  and  shiver  in 
June.  But  the  climate  during  the  cold  months  of  the  dry 
season  is  ideal.     In  the  larger  part  of  Brazil,  climatic 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  31 

conditions  favor  the  development  of  a  vigorous  race 
of  people. 

The  climate  is  not  only  good,  but  in  the  larger  part 
of  the  country,  it  is  also  salubrious.  In  Rio  and  in  many 
other  regions,  yellow  fever  was  endemic  for  half  a  cen- 
tury, and  many  sections  are  malarious.  But  yellow  fever 
has  been  exterminated,  and  modern  science  easily  con- 
quers malaria. 

Such,  then,  is  Brazil, — a  country  both  interesting  and 
attractive,  a  land  of  inexhaustible  resources  and  of  mar- 
velous future. 


32  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 


CHAPTER    11. 


THE  PEOrLE. 


Well  did  Alexander  Pope  say  "The  proper  study  of 
mankind  is  man."  Brazil  is  surely  an  interesting  country 
to  study,  and  the  most  interesting  thing  in  Brazil  is  the 
Brazilian.  But  the  study  of  him  is  a  difficult  undertak- 
ing. When  asked  to  what  race  he  belongs,  or  from  what 
people  descended,  one  feels  at  a  loss  what  answer  to 
make.  When  the  Europeans  began  to  colonize  Brazil,  the 
land  was  already  inhabited  by  the  Indian;  later  on  the 
African  slave  was  introduced.  There  was  very  little 
mingling  of  the  races  in  North  America,  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  settler  holding  himself  proudly  aloof.  This  was 
not  the  case  in  Brazil :  there  was  not  a  little  mingling  of 
the  European  blood  with  the  Indian,  not  a  little  of  the 
African  with  the  red  man,  and  quite  a  little  of  the  Euro- 
pean with  the  African.  The  cross  between  the  white 
man  and  the  Negro  produced  the  mulatto ;  that  between 
the  white  man  and  the  Indian,  the  mamehico ;  and  that 
between  the  Negro  and  the  Indian,  the  cafuso.  During 
these  four  centuries,  these  classes  have  gone  on  inter- 
marrying with  more  or  less  freedom,  so  it  can  easily  be 
understood  that  the  ethnological  problem  in  Brazil  is  a 
complex  one.  In  the  early  years  there  were  the  six 
classes — three  pure  bloods  and  three  mixed  breeds. 
Now  we  may  reduce  them  to  four :  the  white,  the  Indian, 
and  the  negro,  and  finally  the  large  mixed  class. 

The  Indians  found  peopling  Brazil  when  Cabral  dis- 


Rev.    F.    F.    S0RP:N. 

Pastor    First    Baptist    Clinrch, 

Rio  dc  Janeiro. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  33 

covered  the  country  in  1500  were  very  similar  in  appear- 
ance, habits  and  beHefs  to  those  found  dweUing  in  the 
forests  and  on  the  plains  of  North  America.  Evidently, 
thp_;  were  from  a  common  stock.  As  compared  with  the 
Iiidians  of  North  America,  those  of  Brazil  were  smaller 
in  stature,  less  vigorous  in  their  physical  habits,  less 
ferocious  and  blood-thirsty — the  differences  being  due, 
probably,  to  climatic  influences.  \^olumes  have  been 
written  on  the  subject  of  the  Indians  of  Brazil,  but  the 
subject  is  still  in  hopeless  confusion.  Some  writers  find 
eight  or  more  distinct  nations,  each  divided  into  sundry 
tribes ;  others  would  reduce  all  the  tribes  to  two  great 
nations.  The  greatest  of  these  nations  was  the  Tupy, 
whose  language  is  know^n  as  the  Guarany.  In  Brazil,  as 
in  North  America,  a  halo  of  romance  surrounds  these 
very  unromantic  people.  There  are  the  stories  of  Indian 
princesses,  corresponding  to  our  romance  of  Pocahontas, 
the  most  celebrated  of  them  being  Paraguassu,  a  princess 
of  Bahia,  who  married  a  white  man,  went  to  Europe,  was 
baptized  into  the  Christian  faith,  Catherine  de  Medicis, 
Queen  of  France,  acting  as  godmother.  ''Guarany," 
Josa  de  Alencar's  most  famous  novel,  is  an  Indian 
story,  and  it  formed  the  basis  of  Carlos  Gomes'  still  more 
famous  musical  composition,  bearing  the  same  name,  an 
opera  that  gave  to  its  author  a  world-wide  reputation. 
These  various  Indian  tribes  formed  one  of  the  important 
elements  in  the  population  of  Brazil,  and  their  influence 
on  the  physical  and  moral  characteristics  of  the  average 
Brazilian  of  to-day  is  very  noticeable. 
%  The  second,  and  much  the  most  important  element 
in  the  population,  was  the  European  colonist.  By  far 
the  greater  number  of  them  came  from  Portugal,  but 
the  Spaniard  and  the  Frenchman  made  considerable  con- 


34  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

tributions,  and  even  the  Dutch  left  some  slight  traces 
^oi  their  passing  stay.  At  a  very  early  day,  came  also 
the  African  slave,  stolen  from  his  home  along  the  shores 
of  sea  and  river,  and  brought  to  develop  the  agricultural 
enterprizes  and  to  work  in  the  mines  of  the  new  country. 
When  it  was  found  that  they  were  more  valuable  for 
these  purposes  than  the  Indians,  reduced  to  a  state  of 
quasi  servitude,  they  were  brought  over  m  ever  increas- 
ing numbers ;  and  this  trade  continued  in  one  form  or 
another  for  some  three  centuries. 

About  the  middle  of  the  last  century  and  during  the 
latter  half  of  it,  quite  a  tide  of  German  imigration  flowed 
into  Brazil,  especially  into  the  southern  provinces;  and 
during  the  last  decades  of  the  century  an  enormous  wave 
of  Italian  population  overflowed  the  states  of  Sao  Paulo, 
Rio,  and  Minas — but  more  especially  Sao  Paulo.  Aside 
from  German  and  Italian  immigrants,  quite  a  number 
of  Swedes,  Frenchmen  and  Syrians  have  made  their 
homes  in  Brazil,  with  some  sprinkling  of  Spaniards, 
English  and  Americans.  The  mother-land  of  Portugal 
has  never  ceased  to  send  a  constant  stream  of  her  chil- 
dren into  their  second  home  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
Brazil  owes  much  to  the  sons  of  Lusitania.  This  recent 
immigration  has  all  been  from  lands  where  the  white 
^  race  predominates,  and  has  considerably  increased  the 
proportion  of  whites  to  the  other  classes  of  the  popu- 
lation in  Brazil. 

Census  data  in  Brazil  are  of  but  little  worth,  and  it 
seems  impossible  to  form  anything  like  an  accurate  esti- 
mate of  the  proportions  in  which  the  different  elements 
of  the  population  stand  to  each  other.  According  to 
the  imperfect  and  partial  census  made  in  1890,  of  a  popu- 
lation of  14,000,000,  approximately  6,300,000  were  given 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  35 

as  whites,  2,100,000  as  blacks,  1,300,000  as  Indians,  and 
the  4,300,000  as  mixed  bloods.  After  nineteen  years,  the 
population  is  estimated  now  at  about  20,000,000.  Of 
these,  we  may  estimate  that  about  forty  per  cent,  or  some 
8,000,000,  are  pure  whites,  or  practically  pure ;  about  fif- 
teen per  cent,  pure  blacks,  or  some  3,000,000;  about  ten 
per  cent.,  or  2,000,000,  Indians  of  more  or  less  pure 
blood;  and  the  remaining  thirty-five  per  cent.,  01 
7,000,000,  would  be  classed  as  of  mixed  race.  Any 
change  in  these  proportions  necessitated  by  an  accurate 
census,  would  almost  certainly  be  in  the  direction  of 
diminishing  the  percentage  of  the  pure  whites  and  in- 
creasing that  of  the  mixed  race. 

These  different  elements  of  Brazil's  population  are 
not  found  in  the  same  proportion  in  every  part  of  the 
country.  In  many  parts  of  Bahia,  the  negro  population 
is  largely  in  excess  of  any  other,  while  comparatively 
few  Africans  are  to  be  found  in  the  extreme  southern 
states.  Near  the  seacoast  and  in  the  southern  states, 
very  few  Indians  of  pure  blood  are  met  with;  the  large 
majority  of  them  inhabit  the  far  interior,  being  found 
mostly  in  the  north  of  Goyaz,  in  Matto  Grosso,  and  espe- 
cially in  Amazonas. 

Of  the  2,000,000  Indians,  of  more  or  less  pure 
blood,  supposed  to  form  a  part  of  Brazil's  population  at 
present,  perhaps  1,000,000  are  still  in  a  state  of  almost 
absolute  barbarism.  It  is  said  that  cannibalism  is  still 
practiced  by  some  of  the  tribes.  In  connection  with  this 
subject  of  Brazil's  Indian  population,  it  will  be  well  to 
call  attention  to  a  statement  made  by  a  recent  author. 
It  was  not  clearly  stated,  but  the  impression  made  by 
the  paragraph  in  question  was  to  the  effect  that  about 
four-fifths  of  the  territory  of  Brazil  was  given  over  to 


36  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

these  wandering  tribes  of  Indians.  Such  an  idea  is  very 
far  from  accurate.  It  might  not  be  far  from  the  truth 
to  say  that  four-fifths  of  Brazil's  population  is  found 
peopling  not  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  territory;  but  to 
think  of  the  remaining  four-fifths  as  wholly  given  over 
to  savage  tribes  is  as  far  as  possible  from  the  truth. 

Enough  has  been  said  of  the  elements  of  population 
in  Brazil ;  let  us  now  come  a  little  closer  to  the  Brazilian 
himself,  get  better  acquainted  with  him  and  a  little  more 
familiar  with  his  nearer  environment.     Nothing,   how- 
ever, is  more  difficult  than  to  draw  a  pen  picture  that 
will  give  an  accurate  idea  of  the  civilization  of  a  foreign 
people.     ''There   are   two   extremes  to  be  avoided,"   as 
Dr.  Francis  Clark  so  well  says,  in  the  Foreword  to  his 
book,  "The  Continent  of  Opportunity."    If  one  describes 
a  railroad  trip  from  Rio  to  Sao  Paulo  in  a  Pullman  car, 
made  on  a  cool  fresh  day,  after  rains  have  thoroughl) 
laid  the  dust  and  brought  out  fully  all  of  the  beauty  of 
mountain  and  valley,  he  will  certainly  be  very  loud  in  his 
praise  of  the  beauty  of  the  land.     If  he  describes  a  visit 
to  one  of  Brazil's  modern  cities,  Rio  or  Sao  Paulo,  tells 
of  the   excellent   service   of   electric   street-cars,   of   the 
beautiful   parks,    the   splendid   avenues,   the   magnificent 
public  buildings,  the  wonderful  commercial  activity,  and 
of  the  palatial  homes — his  readers  will  be  wondering  why 
the  municipal  authorities  and  the  Boards  of  Trade  do  not 
send    representatives    to    Brazil   to   take   lessons    in   the 
science  and  art  of  municipal  life.     If  a  visit  to  the  splen- 
did home  of  a  millionaire  planter  is  described,  an  account 
given  of  the  banquet  in  honor  of  the  foreign  guest,  the 
handsome  toilets  of  the  gentlemen  and  ladies  duly  noted ; 
all   this   will   convince   the   reader   that   Brazil    is,   what 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  37 

Amerigo  Vespucci  described  it  to  be  in  his  chronicles 
of  his  voyages,  *'an  earthly  paradise." 

All  this  and  more  might  be  said  of  Brazil,  and 
it  would  all  be  true;  but  it  would  be  only  one  phase 
of  life  in  the  country,  and  it  would  describe  the 
life  of  but  a  very  small  part  of  the  twenty  millions  of 
Brazilians. 

Let  us  suppose,  on  the  other  hand,  that  our  writer  is 
describing  a  journey  on  mule-back  into  the  far  interior 
where  population  is  sparse  and  he  travels  for  leagues 
without  seeing  a  human  face  or  finding  water  to  slake 
his  thirst.  His  food  will  be  prepared  along  the  roadside 
in  a  very  primitive  way,  and  will  be  served  in  a  way  more 
primitive  still.  His  cofifee  will  be  made  in  a  tin  can  and 
taken  from  a  tin  cup,  or  even  from  a  gourd.  He  may 
have  to  sleep  under  heaven's  blue  tent,  or  he  may  be 
fortunate  enough  to  find  a  grass-covered  hut  or  shed. 
His  bed  may  be  a  raw-hide  thrown  down  upon  the  ground 
and  cushioned  with  his  saddle-blankets  and  his  own 
clothing,  or  it  may  be  a  mattress  poorly  filled  with 
shredded  corn-husks  and  stretched  upon  a  frame  of  split 
poles.  This,  too,  would  be  a  true  picture,  and  would 
describe  the  manner  of  life  of  no  small  part  of  Brazil's 
twenty  millions. 

There  are  two  ways  of  telling  a  story,  and  both  ex- 
tremes should  be  avoided.  Peoples  and  lands  cannot  be 
described ;  they  must  be  seen  and  known  to  be  understood 
and  rightly  appreciated.  The  writer  can  hope  for  nothing 
more  in  these  pages  than  to  give  the  reader  a  few  touches 
that  may  enable  him  to  form  some  idea  of  Brazil  and  the 
Brazilians  equally  free  from  the  opposite  extremes. 

And  first,  the  Brazilians  from  the  physical  point  of 
view.     They  are,  generally  speaking,   small  of  stature; 


38  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

though  not  infrequently  one  meets  with  unusually  tall 
men  and  women.  The  average  height  would  probably 
be  at  least  an  inch  and  a  half  less  than  the  medium  height 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The  predominant 
type  is  decidely  brunette,  though  blue  eyes  and  golden 
hair  are  occasionally  seen.  The  complexion  is  swarthy, 
such  as  is  doubtless  common  in  Mexico  and  Cuba,  and 
rosy  cheeks  are  almost  never  seen  except  in  persons  of 
foreign  birth  or  lineage.  Small  hands  and  feet  are  the 
rule.  As  to  their  personal  appearance,  the  writer  will 
not  be  so  uncomplimentary  to  the  Brazilians  as  some  of 
them  once  were  to  the  Americans.  Years  ago  he  took  a 
number  of  photographs  to  a  certain  shop  in  Campinas 
to  have  them  neatly  framed.  When  he  went  for  them 
a  few  days  later,  the  shop-keeper  asked  him  who  the 
friends  were,  telling  him  that  they  had  given  rise  to  no 
end  of  discussion, — one  now  and  then  insisting  that  they 
were  Americans,  but  the  majority  maintaining  stoutly 
that  such  could  not  possibly  be  the  case,  seeing  they  were 
unusually  good-looking  folk,  whereas  everybody  knew 
that  the  Americans  were  very  homely.  The  Brazilians, 
as  a  rule,  are  not  homely.  Many  of  the  men  are  hand- 
some, and  some  of  their  women  very  beautiful.  Their 
features  are  often  almost  faultless,  but  frequently  there 
in  a  lack  of  expression  and  of  animation  to  light  up  what 
would  otherwise  be  a  beautiful  face.  Brazil  is  com- 
paratively a  new  country,  and  there  are  too  many  and 
too  diverse  elements  in  the  population  to  have  developed 
in  so  short  a  time  a  distinct  national  type. 

The  Brazilian's  bill  of  fare  depends  upon  his  means ; 
the  rich  live  very  luxuriously,  the  poor  most  plainly. 
But  whether  he  be  rich  or  poor,  he  will  generally  have 
for  breakfast  and  dinner — his  two  principal  meals — rice 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  39 

and  beans.  Bread  is  not  the  staff  of  life  with  the  Brazi- 
Han,  rice  and  beans  hold  the  first  place.  With  him,  the 
''daily  bread"  spells  rice  and  beans ;  and  in  common 
speech,  a  man  does  not  ask  his  friend  to  ''come  and 
break  bread"  with  him,  but  to  come  "and  eat  of  his 
beans."  The  principal  repasts  of  the  day  are  two — break- 
fast, some  time  between  nine  and  eleven  o'clock,  and 
dinner  some  time  between  four  and  seven.  The  house- 
wife who  has  been  accustomed  to  the  American  system 
of  three  meals  a  day  says  they  eat  all  day  in  Brazil. 
The  first  thing  in  the  morning  is  a  cup  of  coffee,  gen- 
erally with  bread  or  some  light  cake ;  then  comes  an 
elaborate  breakfast.  About  noon,  coffee  is  served  again, 
which  often  amounts  to  a  considerable  lunch.  Dinner 
comes  on  about  four  or  five;  and  in  the  evening,  about 
eight  o'clock,  tea  is  served  with  bread  and  cake.  Thus 
it  comes  to  pass  that  the  lady  of  the  house  is  serving 
the  table  or  preparing  something  for  the  table  from  six 
in  the  morning  till  nine  at  night. 

The  wealthy,  especially  those  who  live  in  town,  make 
large  and  constant  use  of  beer  and  wine  at  the  table; 
but  the  statement  made  in  a  book  recently  published,  to 
the  effect  that  no  family  is  too  poor  to  have  wine  with 
their  food,  is  simply  absurd.  One  will  travel  for  weeks 
in  the  interior  of  Brazil,  eating  daily  in  the  homes  ot 
the  peasant  class  and  of  the  farmer  class,  without  once 
seeing  wine  on  the  table.  The  people  do  not  make  wine, 
and  the  cheapest  wine  sold  costs  about  thirty-five  or 
forty  cents  a  quart,  which  sum  is  about  as  much  as  many 
day-laborers  receive  for  a  day's  work. 

The  thing  that  impresses  one  most  forcibly  in  re- 
gard to  the  Brazilian's  cuisine  is  the  very  large  use  he 
makes  of  meats,  and  his  great  fondness  for  very  greasy 


40  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

and  very  highly  flavored  foods.  Much  of  the  food  is 
redolent  with  onions  and  garlic,  and  no  man  more  thor- 
oughly than  our  Brazilian  friend  can  understand  and 
sympathize  with  the  Israelites  when  they  rebelled  agains- 
the  "light  food"  which  their  ''souls  loathed,"  and  longed 
for  the  "cucumbers,  the  onions  and  the  garlic"  of  Egypt. 
One  would  suppose  that,  being  a  tropical  land,  the  people 
would  use  very  little  greasy  food,  and  would  subsist 
largely  on  a  vegetable  and  fruit  diet.  Such  is  not  the 
case,  however;  they  make  less  use  of  vegetable  food  than 
do  the  people  of  North  America,  and  the  use  they  make 
of  fruit  as  part  of  their  food  is  insignificant.  They  eat 
fruit,  but  between  meals  and  as  something  extra. 

The  Brazilian  dresses  as  does  his  European  or  North 
American  neighbor;  but  when  dressed  for  a  formal  call 
or  for  a  social  function,  he  would  impress  his  North 
American  neighbor  as  being  over  dressed,  or  too  much 
"dressed  up."  In  this  he  is  more  like  the  peoples  ot 
southern  Europe.  The  ladies  indulge  freely  in  cosmetics, 
the  puff-box  with  the  accompanying  "lily  white,"  "swan's 
down"  and  rouge  form  an  indispensable  part  of  my  lady's 
toilet  equipment.  And  one  will  sometimes  meet  a  dude 
whose  face,  much  whiter  than  his  hands,  will  suggest 
rice  powder,  and  once  in  a  while  a  very  suspicious  pink 
tinge  will  be  noticed  on  his  cheeks, 
fortunately,  is  very  rare. 

As  a  people,  the  Brazilians  are  rather  careless  about 
their  dress  when  at  home,  and  when  in  the  shop  or  office, 
but  scrupulously  careful  when  performing  any  official 
act,  or  attending  some  formal  social  function.  The  small 
boy,  who  will  run  barefooted  and  bareheaded  over  a 
large  yard  or  school  campus,  utterly  regardless  of  his 
personal  appearance,  caring  not  a  straw  whether  or  not 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  41 

the  lower  end  of  his  shirt  and  the  upper  end  of  his 
trousers  stand  in  their  due  relations,  would  not  think  of 
going  to  the  postoffice  for  mail  or  of  carrying  a  note  to 
the  house  of  a  neighbor  without  being  duly  clothed,  shoa 
and  hatted. 

A  prominent  Presbyterian  native  minister  in  Brazil 
tells  this  story  on  himself.  When  a  student,  he  went 
on  one  occasion  to  conduct  service  on  the  Sabbath  in  a 
neighboring  church.  On  Saturady  afternoon,  he  rode 
up  to  the  home  of  a  prominent  member  of  the  congrega- 
tion, a  coffee  planter,  worth  probably  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars. As  he  rode  up,  he  saw  a  man  in  shirt  sleeves,  bare- 
footed and  with  sleeves  and  trousers  legs  rolled  up, 
walking  across  the  barn-yard.  ''Hello,"  called  our 
young  theolog.  "Hello,"  answered  the  man.  "Is  your 
boss,  the  farmer,  at  home  "  asked  the  student.  "I  my- 
self am  the  boss  here,"  answered  the  amused  planter  from 
the  barn-yard,  careless  of  the  fact  that  his  appearance 
belied  his  words. 

A  party  of  democratic  Americans  were  travelling  by 
rail  some  years  ago  in  Brazil.  They  had  gotten  all  of  their 
ideas  of  titled  nobility  from  literature  and  so  were  greatly 
surprised  and  not  a  little  shocked  to  see  an  old  gentle- 
man walking  unconcernedly  along  the  station  platform, 
in  ragged  slippers  and  with  no  socks  on,  and  to  learn  that 
he  was  the  Baron  of  So-and-so.  Had  the  baron  been 
attending  some  political  meeting  or  some  state  function, 
he  would,  doubtless,  have  presented  a  very  different 
appearance. 

<T?he  Brazilians,  as  a  people,  are  notably  courteous 
and  affable,  kindly,  and  generous  almost  to  a  fault.  They 
do  not  understand  what,  in  the  States,  is  called  "little- 
ness," and  they  despise  the  man  who  would  be  char- 


42  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

acterized  in  the  Gulf  States  as  "picayunish."  A  more 
obliging  people  cannot  be  found.  The  Brazilian,  at  any 
time,  will  put  himself  out  seriously  that  he  may  do  his 
friend  a  favor.  The  answer  of  a  well-known  gentleman, 
when  asked  if  he  will  do  you  a  favor,  is  "Two  or  three 
if  you  wish" ;  and  our  friend  Moura  means  just  what  he 
says.  They  are  scrupulously  polite,  affable  and  cordial; 
will  never  allow  themselves  to  be  outdone  in  politeness ; 
but  they  have  a  contempt  for  the  gruff  and  boorish  fellow,  f 

^ur  Brazilian  neighbors,  too,  are  very  emotional  and 
demonstrative ;  the  stoic  is  rarely  met  with.  Their  emo- 
tional, demonstrative  nature  finds  expression  in  what 
seems  to  their  friends  from  colder  climes  to  be  excessive 
gesticulation.  This  characteristic  is  seen,  to  some  extent, 
in  their  public  speakers,  but  is  noticed  more  especiall> 
in  private  conversation.  There  is  often  a  kind  of  fascin- 
ation in  watching  a  group  of  Brazilians  in  animated 
conversation:  face,  head,  shoulders,  arms,  and  hands  are 
all  busy,  and  even  their  legs  are  sometimes  brought  into 
play  to  give  fuller  expression  and  emphasis  to  their 
thoughts  and  feelings.  The  cold-blooded  foreigner  looks 
on  in  amazement.  The  formal  handshake  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  seems  very  cold  and  meaningless  when  one  has 
become  accustomed  to  the  hearty  Brazilian  embrace.  It 
does  one  good  to  see  two  of  them  meet  after  a  prolonged 
separation,  fly  into  each  other's  arms,  giving  a  good 
tight  hug  with  a  pat  on  the  back.  It  certainly  looks  cor- 
dial and  hearty,  and  it  means  more  than  words.x 

The  warm,  emotional  Latin  blood  in  the  Brazilian's 
veins  shows  itself  in  his  passionate  fondness  for  music, 
and  in  his  love  of  pleasure.  The  theatre,  the  ball,  the 
games  and  the  racetrack  all  appeal  to  him  strongly;  and 
this  emotional  nature,  which  is  the  source  of  his  most 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  43 

attractive  graces  and  his  noblest  virtues,  is,  at  the  same 
time,  the  most  fruitful  source  of  his  weaknesses,  his 
temptations  and  his  sins. 

^Mentally,  the  Brazilian  is  alert  and  quick.  As  com- 
pared with  the  German,  he  is  much  less  thorough ;  as 
compared  with  the  Anglo-Saxon,  he  is  less  practical. 
In  acquiring  knowledge,  he  is  the  superior  of  either;  in 
the  use  and  practical  application  of  what  he  has  acquired, 
he  is  their  inferior.  The  ease  with  which  they  acquaint 
themselves  with  the  facts  of  this  or  that  science  or  this 
or  that  department  of  learning,  is  often  remarkable;  and 
when  this  facility  has  been  noted,  one  feels  disappointed 
when  he  observes  their  lack  of  ability  to  digest,  assimi- 
late and  apply  to  life's  practical  problems  all  this  ac- 
quired knowledge.  This  makes  them,  generally  speaking, 
a  nation  of  theorists ;  and  they  themselves  wonder  at 
the  practical  skill  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  envy  him  his 
gift. 

The  mental  alertness  of  the  Brazilian  people  is  seen 
in  the  school  children.  Compared  with  children  of  the 
same  age  in  North  America,  they  learn  more  rapidly, 
and  acquire  with  much  more  ease  the  rudiments  of  edu- 
cation. The  youth  at  college  shows  the  same  precocious 
mental  development.  The  average  Brazilian  college  boy 
will  outshine,  by  far,  his  Teutonic  classmate  of  the  same 
age  and  advantages;  but  the  Teuton  will  probably  dis- 
tance him  before  the  end  of  life's  race  is  reached.  The 
same  trait  is  seen  in  the  men  O'f  literary  and  artistic 
^talent.  Most  of  Brazil's  writers,  whether  of  prose  or  of 
verse,  have  attained  th^ir  eminence  and  reached  the  limit 
of  their  powers  quite  early  in  life,  instead  of  growing 
and  ripening  on  into  the  afternoon  of  life's  day,  as  has 
been  the  case  with  most  of  the  men  of  letters  in  England 


44  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

and  America.  Antonio  Gongalvez  Dias,  facile  princeps 
of  Brazilian  poets,  did  most  of  his  work  when  he  was 
quite  young;  Jose  de  Alencar,  the  most  prominent  of  the 
writers  of  fiction,  wrote  his  most  popular  romance, 
''Guarany,"  when  he  was  only  twenty-eight  years  of  age ; 
and  Carlos  Gomes,  Brazil's  musician  of  international 
repute,  the  man  who  composed  the  music  for  the  tri- 
umphal hymn  at  the  Philadelphia  Centennial  Exposition 
in  1876,  composed  his  chefd'ocuvre,  his  great  opera  en- 
titled "Guarany,"  and  based  on  Alencar's  famous  Indian 
story,  at  twenty-eight.  Most  of  the  men  who  compose 
the  literary  constellation  of  to-day  are  comparatively 
young  men.  In  this  respect,  Brazil  is  certainly  a  young 
man's  country. 

But  examples  are  not  lacking  to  prove  that  the  Bra- 
zilian's mental  powers  are  not  always  a  vanishing  quantity 
after  life's  high-noon  is  passed.  Rio  Branca,  the  present 
great  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  long  ago  passed  the 
meridian ;  and  Ruy  Barbosa,  Brazil's  brilliant  representa- 
tive at  the  recent  Hague  Conference,  and,  in  some  re- 
spects, the  ablest  man  in  Brazil  to-day,  if  not  in  South 
America,  can  no  longer  be  classed  among  the  young  men. 

The  intellectual  life  and  characteristics  of  the  Bra- 
zilian people  are  mirrored  in  their  national  literature, 
which  is  by  no  means  to  be  despised,  and  in  their  na- 
tional journalism,  which  has  many  excellencies.  The 
best  newspapers  conform  more  to  the  English  than  to 
the  American  type.  We  do  not  find  the  grotesque  car- 
toons and  the  startling  headlines  so  common  in  American 
journalism.  Much  more  space  is  given  to  the  serious 
discussion  of  scientific,  philosophical,  sociological  and 
literary  questions,  and  much  less  to-  sensational  scandal, 
than   is   the   case    with   the   average   newspaper   of   the 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  45 

United  States.  When  one  thinks  of  how  much  space  is 
taken  up  with  the  unsavory  details  of  scandal  and  murder 
trials,  he  wishes  that  our  North  American  journalists 
might  learn  one  lesson,  at  least,  from  their  Brazilian 
confreres. 

The  fact  just  noted,  namely,  that  Brazilian  news- 
papers give  much  space  to  the  discussion  of  more  serious 
and  important  subjects,  is  doubtless  due,  in  great  mea- 
sure, to  the  fact  that  Brazil  has  almost  no  periodical 
literature.  Most  of  the  work  done  by  the  literary,  scien- 
tific, philosophical  and  sociological  reviews  of  North 
America  is  done  by  the  daily  press  in  Brazil. 

The  Brazilian  people,  generally  speaking,  take  more 
naturally  to  town,  than  to  country  life.  The  charming 
country  home,  such  an  attractive  feature  of  our  Ameri- 
can life,  is  hardly  known  in  the  greater  part  of  Brazil; 
and  the  people  can  never  have  a  highly  developed  rural 
civilization  until  they  get  better  roads  and  have  more 
commodious  means  of  inland  travel.  The  Teutonic  na- 
tions are  noted  for  their  domestic  virtues;  and  the  Latin 
peoples  generally  are  less  fond  of  their  homes  and  more 
fond  of  their  clubs.  In  every  town  and  village  there  are 
one  of  more  places  where  by  common  consent,  the  men 
gather  about  nightfall,  and  spend  the  evening  talking  to- 
gether. While  the  Brazilian  spends  his  evening  thus, 
the  Englishman  or  the  American  would  probably  be  at 
home  reading,  talking  to  his  wife,  or  romping  with  his 
children.  The  home,  as  to  its  furnishings,  whether  hand- 
some or  plain,  has  an  air  of  stiffness.  It  may  be  elegantly 
furnished,  but  it  will  appear  cold  and  punctilious ;  one 
misses  the  cosey  atmosphere  that  is  felt  in  an  American 
home,  but  cannot  be  described. 


46  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

The  Brazilians  are  a  nation  of  diplomats.  When  one 
has  associated  with  the  people  at  large,  and  has  noticed 
the  skill  with  which  they  approach  difficult  questions  and 
avoid  the  undesirable  ones,  he  does  not  wonder  that  the 
nation  should  have  produced  a  diplomat  of  the  stature  of 
Rio  Branco.  The  shrewdness  with  which  the  average 
school  boy  evades  the  main  issue  when  called  to  task  for 
misdemeanor,  and  his  consummate  skill  in  defense  when 
the  issue  can  no  longer  be  evaded,  are  indications  of  the 
innate  diplomatic  talent;  and  in  this  case,  the  child  is 
truly  "father  to  the  man."  The  common  day-laborer 
will,  with  the  greatest  shrewdness,  by  the  mere  use  of  a 
word,  by  the  most  delicate  suggestion,  turn  the  conversa- 
tion to  the  subject  uppermost  in  his  mind,  and  about 
which  he  hesitates  to  speak  with  his  employer.  The 
business  and  the  professional  man  are  past  masters  in 
the  art.  If  they  wish  to  bring  up  a  certain  subject,  they 
manage  so  to  steer  the  conversation,  suggesting  far  more 
than  is  said,  that  we  must  come  to  the  point  ourselves, 
or  appear  rude.  And  while  skilful  in  bringing  up  a  sub- 
ject about  which  they  wish  to  speak,  they  are  no  less 
dextrous  in  veering  off  from  one  they  do  not  care  to 
discuss.  We  blunt  Anglo-Saxons  feel  helpless  in  their 
hands.  Ian  Maclaren  gives  to  the  Drumtochty  house- 
wives the  palm  for  diplomacy,  but  Ian  Maclaren  had 
never  known  the  people  of  Brazil. 

As  is  the  individual,  so  is  the  nation.  The  Brazilians 
have  had  many  diplomatic  questions,  and  they  need  not 
be  ashamed  of  their  record.  They  have  crossed  swords 
with  the  English,  with  the  French  and  with  the  Germans, 
and  they  have  drawn  blood  more  frequently  than  they 
have  lost  it.  They  are  great  advocates  of  arbitration, 
and  when  we  consider  the  number  of  causes  they  have 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  47 

won,  we  do  not  wonder  at  their  advocacy  of  the  method. 
Within  very  recent  years  they  brought  the  question  ot 
Amapa  and  the  French  before  the  President  of  Switzer- 
land for  arbitration,  and  the  long  standing  quarrel  with 
the  Argentine  over  the  very  complicated  question  of  the 
Missoes  was  brought  before  President  Cleveland's  judi- 
cial mind  for  settlement.  In  both  cases,  Brazil  won  out 
splendidly.  Two  years  ago,  in  the  Petropolis  treaty,  Rio 
Branco  settled  a  vexed  and  delicate  question  with 
Bolivia,  and  secured  for  Brazil  a  large  territory  of  mag- 
nificent rubber  forests.  Th^^jdiplomati^uastinct  is  born 
in  the  Brazilian. 

>C Brazil  is  a  country  of  contrasts  and  extremes.  We 
meet  side  by  side  the  very  rich  and  the  very  poor — the 
wealthy  living  in  the  greatest  luxury,  the  poor  in  the  most 
squalid  poverty.  Side  by  side  we  meet  the  extremes  of 
learning  and  ignorance,<  A  few  years  ago,  the  percentage 
of  illiteracy  was  estimated  at  more  than  four-fifths  of  the 
population.  That  has  changed  for  the  better,  and  now 
twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  people,  probably,  can  read 
and  write.  But  it  is  astounding  to  think  of  three-fourths 
of  the  people  being  illiterates  in  a  country  where  so 
many  signs  of  an  advanced  stage  of  civilization  are  seen 
on  every  hand. 

These  contrasts  and  extremes  are  still  more  strik- 
ingly seen  in  the  material  development  of  the  country. 
Some  years  ago,  the  writer  was  riding  horseback  across 
country  from  a  railroad  station  to  a  country  neighbor- 
hood twelve  miles  distant.  He  had  just  left  behind  the 
steam  cars  and  the  electric  telegraph.  Overhead  ran  a 
telephone  wire  connecting  the  station  with  the  distant 
country  neighborhood.  On  the  road,  he  met  a  man 
rushing  by  on  a  bicycle,  and  a  hundred  yards  further  on 


48  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

he  met  an  ox-cart  of  the  same  pattern  as  those  used  in 
the  Roman  Empire  two  thousand  years  ago.  Could  it 
be  possible?  One  must  rub  his  eyes  to  see  whether 
he  is  in  the  ancient  world  or  the  modern,  or  whether  he 
is  having  an  experience  such  as  that  of  Mark  Twain's 
''Yankee  at  King  Arthur's  Court." 

On  the  same  farm,  the  visitor  will  doubtless  see  the 
most  primitive  agricultural  implements  and  the  most 
modern,  the  methods  of  three  thousand  years  ago  and 
the  most  advanced  methods  of  to-day.  The  land  may 
be  plowed  with  a  modern  and  most  improved  disk  or 
sulky  plow,  the  grain  planted  with  the  most  highly  im- 
proved patent  planter,  reaped  with  the  old-time  sickle, 
and  then  beaten  out  with  a  flail  such  as  Gideon  used  in  the 
time  of  the  Judges. 

But  the  fact  that  these  incongruities  exist  is  proof 
that  Brazil  is  awaking,  or  has  awaked.  Yes,  this  young 
giant  has  awaked  and  is  going  forward  by  leaps  and 
bounds.  A  wonderful  change  has  come  over  the  land 
within  the  last  twenty-five  years,  and  what  is  seen  is  but 
.the  beginning.  The  next  half -century  will  witness  a 
material  development  such  as  has  hardly  been  dreamed 
of.  The  people  are  getting  a  vision  of  the  possibilities 
of  their  land,  and  they  will  translate  possibilities  into 
realities. 

Such,  then,  is  Brazil ;  a  land  of  wonderful  resources 
and  possibilities.  Such,  too,  are  the  Brazilians;  a  people 
of  keen  and  ready  intellect,  affable  and  winsome  in 
manners;  a  people  just  getting  a  vision  of  the  possible 
greatness  and  power  of  their  land;  twenty  millions  of 
people  in  a  land  that  would  easily  support  five  hundred 
millions. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  49 


CHAPTER  III. 
their  history. 

In  the  preceding  chapters,  something  has  been  said 
of  the  land  and  of  the  people ;  now  something  needs  to 
be  said  of  their  history.  If  it  be  true,  as  so  many  things 
seem  to  indicate,  that  Brazil  is  destined  to  become  one 
of  the  two  greatest  nations  of  the  Western  Hemisphere, 
no  one  who  takes  a  broad  view  of  world  affairs  can  fail 
to  be  interested  in  her  history  from  the  beginning  to  the 
present  time. 

Brazil's  history  falls  naturally  into  three  grand  divi- 
sions: I.  Colonial  Brazil,  from  1500  to  1822;  II.  Impe- 
rial Brazil,  from  1822  to  1889;  and  III.  Republican 
Brazil,  from  1889  to  the  present. 

The  newly  discovered  land  became  a  Portuguese  pos- 
session not  so  much  because  it  was  discovered  and  re- 
ported to  Europe  by  the  Portuguese  navigator  Cabral,  but 
because  the  eastern  shores  first  discovered  lay  to  the 
east  of  an  imaginary  line,  adopted  by  the  Treaty  of 
Tordezillas  in  1494,  by  which  Pope  Alexander  VI.  sought 
to  mark  the  boundary  between  Spain  and  Portugal  in 
the  lands  already  discovered  and  still  to  be  discovered 
in  the  New  World.  This  imaginary  line  was  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy  leagues  west  of  Cape  Verde,  and  as 
the  shores  of  Brazil  were  to  the  east  of  the  line,  the  land 
was  a  Portuguese  possession.  The  summary  way  in 
which  his  holiness  thought  he  could  dispose  of  the  new 
lands  of  a  great  continent  may  provoke  a  smile  in  this 


50  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

twentieth  century;  but  it  was  taken  seriously  four  hun 
dred  years  ago,  and  determined  that  this  land  of  great 
extent  and  wonderful  possibilities  should  receive  its 
blood,  its  ideals  and  its  language  from  Lusitanian  rather 
than  from  Castilian  sources.  It  is  amusing  now  to  see 
the  old  maps  of  the  colony,  showing  this  line  running 
north  and  south,  following  more  or  less  closely  the  fif- 
tieth degree  of  longitude  west  of  Greenwich,  significant 
proof  and  illustration  of  the  decline  of  papal  power  and 
influence. 

In  this  very  brief  resume,  no  detailed  account  of  the 
passing  years  can  be  undertaken;  only  a  few  of  the 
events  of  cardinal  importance  will  be  noticed  in  each  of 
the  grand  divisions  of  the  country's  history;  and  first 
we  have  Colonial  Brazil. 

The  first  serious  attempt  at  colonization  was  in  the 
reign  of  D.  Joao  III.  In  1534,  this  monarch  divided 
seven  hundred  leagues  of  the  eastern  coast  line  into 
twelve  colonies,  which  he  called  Capifanias,  conferring 
them  upon  Portuguese  nobles  in  perpetual  and  here- 
ditary right.  Some  of  the  Capitanias  were  founded,  and 
prospered;  but  the  majority  of  the  grants  were  not  taken 
up,  or  having  been  taken  up,  were  later  on  abandoned, 
and  so  reverted  to  the  Portuguese  crown.  Permanent 
settlements  were  made  at  Pernambuco,  Bahia,  and  in 
Sao  Paulo ;  and  all  went  well  for  a  while.  But  a  central 
authority  was  needed,  a  bond  of  union  must  exist,  and 
the  system  as  a  whole  was  found  to  be  a  failure.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  1549,  Thome  de  Souza,  a  man  highly  con- 
nected, of  high  character  and  great  talents,  was  sent  out 
as  the  first  Governor-General  of  Brazil.  He  established 
his  official  headquarters  at  Bahia,  which  thus  became 
the  capital  of  Brazil;  it  so  continued  for  more  than  two 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  51 

centuries,  until,  in  1763,  it  was  moved  to  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
that  the  central  authority  might  be  nearer  to  the  La 
Plata  region,  where  there  was  always  trouble,  and  often 
war,  between  the  Portuguese  and  the  Spanish. 

This  change  of  policy  brought  great  blessing  and 
prosperity  to  the  colonies.  During  the  colonial  period 
of  her  history,  Brazil  was  ruled  by  fifty  of  the  governors- 
general,  many  of  them  men  of  rare  gifts  of  administra- 
tion. Toward  the  close  of  the  period,  these  representa- 
tives of  the  royal  authority  came  to  be  known  as  vice-reis. 

Among  the  more  interesting  and  important  of  the 
events  of  Brazil's  Colonial  Period,  must  be  placed  The 
French  Invasion  and  Attempts  at  Colonisation.  During 
the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  and  throughout  the  six- 
teenth centuries,  the  nations  of  western  Europe  were 
dominated  by  the  spirit  of  colonial  and  commercial  em- 
pire. Under  the  influence  of  this  spirit,  far-seeing 
Frenchmen  attempted  to  colonize  Brazil  and  wrest  the 
fair  land  from  Portugal's  grasp.  The  first  of  these  at- 
tempts was  made  in  the  bay  of  Rio,  where  the  island 
of  Villegagnon  preserves  the  name  of  the  man  who  was 
at  the  head  of  the  enterprise.  The  colony  is  knov/n  in 
history  as  Antartic  France,  and  the  French  were  in  com- 
mand of  the  beautiful  harbor  from  1555  to  1567,  when 
they  were  driven  out  by  the  Portuguese.  This  colonial 
enterprise  was  intimately  connected  with  Coligny's  at- 
tempt to  found  in  Brazil  an  asylum  for  his  persecutea 
Huguenot  brethren  of  France,  of  which  more  will  be 
said  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

Driven  out  of  the  Rio  bay  in  1567,  the  French,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  century  following,  made  a  serious  at- 
tempt to  establish  themselves  in  the  north  of  the  island 
of  Maranhao,  and  for  five  years,  they  maintained  im- 


52  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

portant  colonial  establishments  at  that  point.  That  en- 
terprise, too,  came  to  naught ;  the  French  withdrew,  and 
Brazil  was  once  more  the  undisputed  possession  of 
Portugal. 

An  important  place  in  the  colonial  annals  of  Brazil 
must  be  given  to  The  Spanish  Domination  of  Sixty 
Years,  from  1580  to  1640.  When  the  gallant  young 
Portuguese  monarch,  D.  Sebastion,  had  fallen  while 
battling  with  the  Moors  in  north  Africa,  and  when  his 
aged  uncle,  D.  Henrique,  had  died  after  a  reign  of  but 
two  years,  Philip  II.,  with  the  aid  of  Pope  Gregory 
XIII. ,  succeeded  in  having  himself  recognized  as  king 
of  Portugal.  Thus  it  came  about  that,  while  all  Europe 
was  feeling  the  heavy  and  cruel  hand  of  Spain,  guided 
by  the  pious  treachery  of  Philip  and  his  papal  master, 
in  a  persistent  and  systematic  effort  to  crush  the  Reform- 
ation and  to  destroy  civil  and  religious  liberty,  Brazil, 
too,  although  beyond  the  seas,  felt  something  of  the  bane- 
ful influence.  During  these  sixty  years  of  the  Spanish 
Domination,  the  colony  continued  to  be  governed  by 
Portuguese  rulers,  and  prospered,  in  a  measure,  due  to 
its  great  inherent  resources.  Spain  sought  to  defend 
the  possession  against  the  invasions  of  the  Dutch,  but 
did  absolutely  nothing  for  its  development  and  progress. 
In  1640,  when  Portugal  proclaimed  her  independence  of 
the  Spanish  crown,  and  placed  upon  her  throne  the 
house  of  Braganza,  represented  by  Duke  John,  who 
became  John  IV.,  the  vSpanish  Domination  came  to  an 
end  in  Brazil.  Alexander  Herculano,  one  of  Portugal's 
most  brilliant  writers  of  history  and  romance,  calls  this 
period  "the  Sixty  Years  Captivity." 

During  this  early  Colonial  Period  is  to  be  noticed 
also    The  Dutch  Invasion   of   Thrity  years,    1624-1654. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  53 

Brazil  at  this  time  was  a  Spanish  colony,  and  the 
invasion  by  the  Dutch  was  a  part  of  the  general  war 
between  Spain  and  Holland.  It  was  not,  however, 
simply  a  measure  of  military  strategy,  it  was  also 
a  part  of  Holland's  vast  program  of  commercial 
and  colonial  expansion.  She  was  planting  colonies 
in  the  East  Indies,  why  not  do  the  same  in  South 
America?  This  invasion  was  begun  by  the  taking  of 
Bahia,  which,  however,  was  afterwards  retaken  by  the 
Spanish.  The  next  step  was  the  taking  of  Pernambuco, 
where  the  Dutch  established  themselves  in  force.  From 
this  centre,  the  Dutch  extended  their  influence  north  and 
south  and  west,  and  at  one  time  they  dominated  the 
larger  part  of  northern  Brazil.  The  native  Indians  and 
the  Portuguese  colonists  were  well  treated  and  were  more 
content  to  be  under  the  Dutch  than  under  the  Spanish 
rule.  There  was  much  prosperity  in  the  colony,  and  all 
went  well. 

The  most  brilliant  page  of  the  history  of  this  Dutch 
Invasion  is  that  which  records  the  government  of  the 
colony  by  Prince  Maurice  of  Nassau,  nephew  of  William 
the  Silent.  An  abler  and  wiser  man  never  governed  a 
colony.  During  the  seven  years  in  which  he  was  at  the 
head  of  afifairs,  Holland's  interests  prospered,  and  it 
looked  as  if  Brazil  might  become  a  Dutch  colony.  A 
Brazilian  historian  says  of  Prince  Maurice :  "By  his 
intelligence,  his  high  qualities  and  ability,  he  greatly  en- 
dangered the  Portuguese  possessions  in  Brazil."  One 
of  the  wisest  measures  introduced  by  him  was  that  of 
religious  toleration  and  freedom.  A  highly  educated 
Brazihan  gentleman  remarked  to  the  writer,  some  years 
ago,  that  to  Maurice  of  Nassau  belonged  the  honor  of 
publishing  the  first  decree  of  absolute  religious  freedom 


54  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

known  in  history.  Whether  this  statement  be  strictly 
accurate  or  not,  sure  it  is  that  Maurice  was  far  in  ad- 
vance of  his  age  on  this  important  point. 

After  the  withdrawal  of  the  Prince  of  Nassau  in 
1644,  affairs  in  the  colony  went  badly.  Divisions  and 
strife  appeared.  Holland  was  at  war  with  England,  and, 
for  interests  of  far  less  moment,  failed  to  hold  and 
strengthen  her  position  in  Brazil.  Portugal  was  now 
free  from  the  Spanish  yoke,  and  the  colonists  preferred 
Portuguese  rule.  War  broke  out,  and,  after  several 
minor  reverses,  the  Dutch  were  finally  defeated  in  two 
general  engagements  in  the  low  mountain  range  west 
of  Pernambuco,  called  the  "Guararapes,"  in  1648  and 
'49.  These  two  defeats  broke  Holland's  power  com- 
pletely, and  in  1654  the  Dutch  withdrew  from  Brazil. 
Thus  ended  the  Dutch  Invasion,  an  incident  in  Brazil's 
history  that  must  always  arouse  the  interest  and  excite 
the  imagination  of  thinking  men. 

Some  years  ago,  an  intelligent  merchant  of  Pernam- 
buco, a  Brazilian  of  pure  Portuguese  descent,  travelling 
on  shipboard,  was  discussing  matters  in  general.  In  the 
course  of  his  remarks,  he  said  that  the  greatest  misfor- 
tune that  had  ever  befallen  Brazil  was  the  expulsion  of 
the  Dutch  by  the  Portuguese.  He  had  travelled  in 
Europe,  and  had  visited  Holland.  "If  they  could  make," 
said  he,  "such  a  garden  of  that  land  of  rock  and  marsh, 
stolen  from  the  arms  of  the  sea,  what  would  they  not 
have  made  of  Brazil?  And  what  would  they  not  have 
made,  indeed? 

In  one  of  the  art  galleries  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  there 
is  a  large  oil  painting,  covering  a  large  part  of  a  side 
wall  in  one  of  the  rooms,  that  will  at  once  arrest  the 
attention  of  the  visitor.     The  writer  has  stood  before  it 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  55 

with  a  certain  feeling  of  awe.  It  represents  the  battle 
of  the  *'Guararapes,"  and  shows  the  Portuguese  and 
Dutch  in  deadly  conflict.  In  the  intense  look  on  the 
faces  of  the  struggling  warriors,  one  seems  to  see  the 
mighty  interests  at  issue.  The  destiny  of  nations  and 
peoples  is  at  stake;  a  continent  is  the  wage  of  battle. 
A  Teuton  and  a  Protestant  cannot  help  wishing  that  the 
fate  of  battle  had  been  other  than  it  was. 

In   1661,  Charles  IL,  of  England,  married  Princess 
Catharine  of  Braganza,  thus  laying  the  foundation  of  the 
traditional    friendship   between  the   Island   Empire   and 
little  Portugal.     Quite  an  impulse  was  given  to  the  life 
and  commerce  of  the  colonies  by  the  discovery  of  gold 
in  Minas,  in  1697,  and  in  Matto  Grosso,  In  1733.     Jusi 
after   the   middle   of   the   eighteenth   century,   the   long- 
standing question  between  Portugal  and  Spain  over  their 
possessions   in  the  La  Plata  region  became  acute,   and 
more  than  once  there  was  resort  to  arms.     But  the  most 
important  event  in  that  century,  from  the  point  of  view 
of  its  influence  on  the  subsequent  history  of  the  country, 
was  The  Conspiracy  and  Execution  of  Tiradentes.    This 
was  a  sad  political  tragedy. 

Unjust  and  oppressive  laws  passed  by  the  Portuguese 
Cortes  had  aroused  great  opposition  in  Brazil.  The  op- 
position was  all  the  more  bitter  because  the  laws  that 
aroused  it  were  so  entirely  out  of  harmony  with  the 
spirit  of  the  times.  The  English  colonies  in  North 
America  had  just  rebelled  against  the  unjust  taxation 
imposed  by  the  mother  country,  and  had  achieved  na- 
tional independence;  the  forces  that  were  soon  to  cause 
that  marvelous  political  and  social  convulsion  known  as 
the  French  Revolution  were  fast  gathering;  and  all  the 
air  in   Europe  and  America  was   full  of  the   spirit  of 


56  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

liberty  and  independence  and  the  equality  of  human 
rights.  Brazilian  students  in  the  European  universities 
were  in  touch  with  these  movements,  and  they  brought 
the  fire  in  their  bosoms  back  to  the  colonies.  There  was 
a  desire  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Portuguese  oppression. 

This  spirit  took  form  in  a  conspiracy,  organized  in  the 
Capitania  of  Minas,  having  as  its  aim  the  establishing  of 
a  republic  in  Minas,  with  its  capital  at  Sao  Joao  del  Rey. 
The  conspiracy  was  quite  widespread  and  involved  a 
number  of  men  prominent  in  literary  and  political  circles. 
When  fully  organized,  it  was  betrayed  and  the  leaders 
arrested.  The  leading  spirit  of  the  movement  was 
Joaquin  Jose  da  Silva  Xavier,  commonly  known  as 
Tiradentes,  that  is,  "tooth-puller,"  because  he  was  by 
profession  a  dentist,  as  the  dental  art  went  in  those  early 
times.  In  1789,  Tiradentes  and  his  fellow  conspirators 
were  arrested.  All  were  condemned,  but  only  he  was 
executed,  the  other  sentences  being  commuted  to  banish- 
ment. In  1792,  the  year  of  the  French  Revolution,  Tira- 
dentes was  hanged,  his  body  drawn  and  quartered,  and 
sent  back  to  Minas  as  a  solemn  warning  to  any  who 
might  be  dreaming  of  republican  form  of  government 
In  1889,  just  a  century  after  Tiradentes'  arrest,  the  re- 
public of  which  he  dreamed  and  for  which  he  died,  was 
born,  and  it  has  honored  his  memory  by  making  the  day 
of  his  martyrdom,  April  21,  a  national  holiday.  'Truth 
forever  on  the  scaffold,  wrong  forever  on  the  throne." 

The  closing  years  of  the  Colonial  Period,  the  years 
from  1808  to  1822,  brought  into  Brazilian  history  a  very 
interesting  and  unique  incident,  nothing  less  than  the  re- 
moval of  the  royal  family  from  the  mother  country  to  the 
colony,  the  only  case  of  the  kind  in  American  history. 
The  causes  leading  up  to  this  unusual  incident  are  closely 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  57 

connected  with  the  great  events  of  those  stirring  times 
in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  Napo- 
leon was  playing  his  magnificent  game  with  Europe  as 
his  chess-board.  In  his  famous  Berlin  Decree,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1806,  the  emperor  had  declared  all  British  ports 
blockaded,  and  British  products  excluded  from  Conti- 
nental ports.  Plucky  Britain  had  retaliated  with  her 
Order-in-Council,  declaring  the  blockade  of  all  Conti- 
nental ports  from  which  the  British  flag  was  excluded. 
When  D.  Joao,  the  prince-regent  of  Portiigal,  refused  to 
renounce  the  alliance  with  England  and  close  Purtuguese 
ports  to  British  ships,  Napoleon  coolly  announced  to 
Europe,  ''the  House  of  Braganza  has  ceased  to  reign," 
and  forthwith  sent  an  army  into  Portugal.  The  royal 
family  hastened  to  embark  in  English  ships,  and  moved 
the  court  to  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

We  may  not  admire  John's  lack  of  courage  in  leaving 
Lisbon,  but  the  move  certainly  brought  great  advantages 
to  the  colony.  In  1808,  the  ports  of  Brazil,  hitherto 
closed  to  foreign  commerce,  were  opened  to  all  friendly 
nations.  Civil  courts,  libraries  and  museums  were 
opened.  Institutions  of  higher  learning  were  also 
founded;  but,  as  a  modern  historian  pithily  comments, 
"not  a  single  primary  school"  was  opened. 

In  181 5,  Brazil  was  raised  to  the  category  of  a  king- 
dom, and  in  the  following  year.  Queen  Mary  having 
died,  her  son  was  crowned  king  as  D.  Joao  VI.,  King  of 
Portugal,  Brazil  and  Algarves.  But  John  did  not  re- 
main long  in  Brazil.  In  1820  a  revolution  broke  out  in 
Portugal,  and  the  interests  of  the  royal  family  demanded 
their  return  to  the  old  country.  The  following  year, 
leaving  his  son,  D.  Pedro,  as  Regent  of  Brazil,  the  king 
with  his  court  returned  to  Lisbon. 


58  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

History  was  now  made  rapidly.  One  important  poli- 
tical event  trod  on  the  heels  of  another.  The  Portuguese 
Cortes  resolved  to  reduce  Brazil  to  her  former  subor- 
dinate position,  and  to  this  end  several  radical  measures 
were  adopted.  The  Regent  was  ordered  back  to  Por- 
tugal. But  Brazil  had  tasted  the  sweets  of  liberty  and 
equality,  and  was  unwilling  to  be  reduced  to  secondary 
rank;  several  Capitanias  requested  D.  Pedro  to  remain 
in  Brazil  in  disobedience  to  the  Cortes.  The  Prince 
answered,  "1  will  remain,"  and  the  gauntlet  was  thrown 
down.  The  tidings  of  this  independent  attitude  of  the 
prince  and  of  the  people  of  Brazil  greatly  exasperated 
the  king  and  the  Cortes.  Other  despatches  and  more 
irritating  ones  were  sent  across  the  Atlantic.  These 
despatches  were  handed  to  the  prince  and  were  read  a 
few  miles  out  of  Sao  Paulo,  whence  he  was  returning  to 
Rio.  As  he  read,  indignation  flamed  within  him;  and 
there  on  the  banks  of  a  little  stream  called  the  Ypiranga, 
D.  Pedro  raised  the  historic  cry,  ''Independence  or 
Death,"  and  a  nation  was  born  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  September  7,  1822.  A  splendid  memorial  building, 
used  as  a  museum,  marks  the  historic  spot  where  the 
Brazilian  nation  was  born  of  the  patriotic  cry  of  him 
who  was  to  be  her  first  emperor,  D.  Pedro  L,  of  the 
House  of  Braganza. 

We  now  come  to  the  second  period  of  our  historical 
survey,  and  have  before  us  Imperial  Brazil.  The  empire 
lived  for  sixty-seven  years,  1822-1889.  Only  two  em- 
perors occupied  the  throne — Pedro  I.  and  Pedro  II, 
father  and  son.  The  fir^t  reigned  but  nine  years;  the 
second,  counting  the  years  of  his  minority,  reigned  for 
fifty-eight. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  59 

Little  of  special  interest  occurred  in  the  reign  of 
Pedro  I.  The  empire  was  organized  with  its  legislative, 
executive  and  judicial  branches  made  distinct;  and  a 
liberal  constitution  was  framed.  In  1826,  D.  Joao  died, 
and  D.  Pedro  was  asked  to  occupy  the  throne  of  Por- 
tugal. He  preferred  to  remain  in  Brazil,  and  abdicated 
the  Portuguese  throne  in  favor  of  his  daughter  Mary. 
The  emperor  was  strong-willed,  and  soon  became  un- 
popular in  Rio  and  in  the  adjoining  provinces.  In  1831, 
misunderstandings  arose  and  became  serious;  a  revolu- 
tion seemed  imminent.  On  April  7,  he  abdicated  in 
favor  of  his  son  Pedro,  a  boy  of  five  years  of  age,  and, 
in  an  English  ship,  sailed  away  to  Portugal,  saying  he 
left  behind  a  country  he  had  always  loved  and  that  he 
loved  still.  In  Brazil,  Pedro  I.  is  known  as  *'the  Liber- 
ator," and  he  is  also  called  *'the  Soldier  King."  His 
martial  and  kingly  bearing  are  well  brought  out  in  the 
handsome  equestrian  statue  of  him  that  stands  in  one  of 
Rio's  beautiful  public  gardens,  in  the  centre  of  the  great 
metropolis.  With  his  left  hand,  he  reins  in  his  fiery 
steed,  in  his  right,  he  holds  aloft  the  constitution,  symbol 
of  free  and  independent  Brazil,  his  great  gift  to  his 
people  and  to  the  world. 

Pedro  II.  was  five  years  old  when  his  father  abdi- 
cated in  his  favor.  Nine  years  later,  as  the  most  satis- 
factory way  of  settling  a  number  of  difficult  questions 
and  of  quelling  a  number  of  nascent  revolutions,  the 
Parliament  proclaimed  the  majority  of  the  young  ruler, 
and  soon  thereafter,  he  ascended  the  throne  and  was 
crowned.  The  first  twenty-five  years  of  his  reign,  though 
witnessing  a  number  of  smaller  local  revolutions  and 
disorders,  were  marked  by  no  event  of  international 
importance,  save  the  invasion  of  the  Argentine  in  a  brief 


6o  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

war  with  the  dictator,  Rosas,  who,  after  his  defeat,  fled 
to  Europe. 

Brazil  has  an  enviable  record  as  a  peace-loving  na- 
tion. The  only  serious  foreign  zvar  in  her  history  was 
that  with  Paraguay,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  reign  of 
Pedro  11.  The  war  was  brought  on  by  Lopes,  who  had 
made  himself  dictator  of  Paraguay,  had  gathered  a  con- 
siderable army,  and  had  gotten  together  a  large  amount 
of  military  supplies.  Lopes'  aim  probably  was  to  annex 
to  Paraguay  the  state  of  Matto  Grosso,  lying  to  the 
north  of  his  country  and  reached  by  means  of  the  Para- 
guay river.  Three  phases  of  the  war  may  be  noted.  The 
first  phase  was  the  aggressive  move  of  Paraguay,  in- 
vading the  state  of  Matto  Grosso  on  the  north  and 
Rio  Grande  do  Sul  on  the  south,  both  easily  reached  by 
the  river  La  Plata  and  its  tributaries.  This  phase  of  the 
war  was  ended  by  the  capture  of  the  Paraguayan  army 
of  six  thousand  that  had  invaded  Rio  Grande  and  occu- 
pied and  fortified  the  city  of  Uruguayana,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Uruguay.  The  second  phase  of  the  war  from 
1866  to  1869,  was  the  longest  and  most  difficult  for 
Brazil.  After  driving  the  Paraguayans  from  her  terri- 
tory, she  undertook  to  invade  theirs  and  to  advance  on 
the  capital  city,  Asuncion.  This  was  no  easy  matter,  for 
all  the  approaches  by  land  and  by  river  had  been  guarded 
by  Lopes.  The  city  was  finally  taken,  though,  and  Lopes 
became  a  fugitive,  giving  himself  up  to  guerilla  warfare. 
The  third  phase,  of  only  a  few  months,  consisted  in  the 
efforts  to  capture  and  destroy  Lopes  and  the  remnants 
of  his  army.  This  was  finally  accomplished  in  the  battle 
on  the  banks  of  the  Aquidaban,  where  the  dictator  was 
slain. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  6i 

In  the  campaigns  of  these  five  years,  not  a  Httle  hard 
service  was  seen,  and  not  a  Httle  genuine  fighting  was 
done,  both  by  the  land  and  naval  forces.  General  Osorio 
and  the  Duke  of  Caxias  were  the  most  noted  army  offi- 
cers ;  the  Baron  of  Tamandare  and  Admiral  Barroso  won 
the  laurels  in  the  naval  engagements ;  and  the  names 
Riachuelo,  Humaita,  Villeta,  Angostura,  Aquidaban  and 
others,  given  to  streets  and  public  squares,  keep  alive 
in  the  memory  of  the  people  the  names  of  the  most  fa- 
mous battles. 

But  ''peace  hath  her  victories  no  less  renowned  than 
war" ;  and  while  referring  to  Brazil's  feats  of  arms,  zvc 
vnist  not  forget  her  more  splendid  victory  of  peace,  in 
the  liberation  of  her  niillions  of  slaves.  The  campaign 
in  behalf  of  abolition  began  earlier  in  the  century,  but  it 
became  more  active  during  the  last  twenty  years  of  the 
empire.  Three  different  laws  were  passed  by  Parliament 
tending  to  and  providing  for  the  emancipation  of  Brazil's 
slaves.  The  first  law  was  passed  in  1871,  and  provided 
that  all  children  born  of  slave  mothers  should  be  free; 
the  second,  enacted  in  1885,  emancipated  all  slaves  who 
reached  the  age  of  sixty;  and  both  of  these  enactments 
made  further  provision  for  gradual  emancipation.  Each 
victory  gained  only  served  to  make  the  advocates  of  im- 
mediate and  universal  emancipation  more  aggressive  and 
determined.  Finally,  on  the  13th  of  May,  1888,  the 
''golden  law,"  as  it  is  called,  was  passed  by  the  Parliament, 
putting  an  end  forever  to  slavery  on  Brazilian  soil. 
What  cost  so  much  blood  and  treasure,  what  caused  so 
much  bitterness  and  sorrow  in  North  America,  was 
accomplished  in  the  Brazilian  empire  without  the  shed- 
ding of  a  drop  of  blood,  with  no  social  or  political 
convulsion. 


62  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

The  first  and  the  third  of  the  three  great  laws  of 
emancipation  were  passed  in  the  absence  of  D.  Pedro, 
when  the  Princess  Isabel  was  regent.  She  was  not 
popular  with  the  nation,  and  some  have  thought  that  she 
favored  emancipation,  hoping  thus  to  secure  for  herself 
the  imperial  throne.  If  this  was  her  motive,  she  was 
sadly  mistaken,  for  the  result  was  quite  the  opposite. 
One  of  the  great  ministers  of  the  empire  had  wisely  fore- 
seen the  logical  connection  between  the  two  movements, 
and  had  pithily  remarked,  ''After  abolition,  the  Republic." 
Up  to  this  time,  the  Republican  Party  in  Brazil  had  been 
small;  but  after  the  law  of  the  13th  of  May  had  been 
passed  many  of  the  rabid  defenders  of  slavery  and 
many  of  the  extreme  conservatives  swung  to  the  opposite 
political,  extreme  and  aligned  themselves  with  the 
republicans. 

Thus,  in  a  very  few  months,  the  Republican  party  had 
become  strong  and  aggressive;  something  must  be  done 
to  weaken  or  destroy  it.  To  this  end,  a  new  ministry 
was  formed,  a  new  Parliament  elected.  In  the  meantime, 
the  army  also  had  become  disaffected  toward  the  gov- 
ernment, and  its  sympathies  were  turning  more  and  more 
towards  the  Republicans.  During  the  year  1889,  several 
of  the  stronger  battalions  of  the  army  had  been  sent 
away  from  Rio.  Some  thought  this  a  part  of  the  plan 
to  lower  the  prestige  of  the  army  and  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  destruction  of  the  Republican  Party ;  others,  how- 
ever, thought  it  was  a  part  of  a  plan  looking  to  the  abdi- 
cation of  the  emperor  in  favor  of  his  daughter.  Princess 
Isabel,  to  accomplish  which  the  elements  of  opposition 
should  be  removed.  Matters  went  on  from  bad  to  worse ; 
the  relations  between  the  army  and  the  ministry  became 
constantly  more  strained.     Finally,  there  came  an  order 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  6^ 

for  the  withdrawal  from  Rio  of  another  division  of  the 
army,  and  this  brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  Many  of  the 
officers  determined  to  resist  the  order  and  to  demand 
that  the  ministry  be  deposed. 

Accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  November  15^/?,  a 
part  of  the  army  was  in  revolt,  and  other  divisions  rapidly 
adhered  to  the  movement.  Marshal  Manoel  Deodoro 
da  Fonseca,  the  head  of  the  army,  ordered  the  ministry 
to  resign.  The  prime  minister  refused,  and  ordered  the 
adjutant-general,  Floriano  Peixoto,  to  open  fire  on  the 
insurgent  brigade.  This  Peixoto  refused  to  do,  calling 
the  attention  of  the  minister  to  the  position  of  the  cannon, 
placed  in  the  square  in  front  of  the  building  where  the 
ministry  was  assembled,  assuring  him  that,  if  the  bri- 
gade were  fired  upon,  the  artillery  would  demolish  the 
building  within  five  minutes.  Deodoro  walked  into  the 
building  amidst  the  wild  acclaim  of  the  soldiers,  and  de- 
manded that  the  ministry  resign.  They  saw  their  cause 
was  lost,  and,  with  what  grace  they  could  summon,  they 
telegraphed  their  resignation  to  the  emperor,  who  was 
in  his  summer  palace  at  Petropolis,  tv/enty-five  miles 
away. 

Up  to  this  point,  the  struggle  had  been  between  the 
army  and  the  ministry,  and  the  ministry  had  lost.  Now 
the  Republican  Party  comes  to  the  front,  and  suggests, 
tiifough  its  leaders,  that  the  opportunity  be  seized  upon 
to  proclaim  the  Republic.  For  a  moment,  doubtless, 
Deodoro,  trained,  as  a  soldier  should  be,  to  obedience 
and  loyalty,  hesitated  between  the  past  and  the  future. 
Then  he  lifted  his  hat  reverently,  and  cried  "Long  live 
the  Brazilian  Republic."  The  cry  was  immediately  taken 
up  by  the  soldiers,  v/as  passed  on,  with  enthusiasm,  by 
the  populace;  it  soon  re-echoed  throughout  the  capital, 


64  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

and  a  salute  of  twenty-one  guns  announced  the  birth  of 
the  Republic.  With  the  shout  of  Prince  Pedro,  the  em- 
pire was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Ypiranga,  September 
7,  1822;  and  with  the  shout  of  Marshal  Deodoro,  the 
RepubHc  was  born,  in  the  nation's  capital,  at  eleven 
o'clock,  on  November  15th,  1889. 

A  Provisional  Government  was  at  once  established  in 
the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  army  and  navy,  with 
Deodoro  at  its  head.  All  rights  were  guaranteed,  and  it 
was  announced  that  peace  and  quiet  would  be  maintained 
at  any  cost.  The  royal  family  was  invited  to  quit  the 
country. 

Thus  ended  the  empire  of  Brazil,  the  last  monarchy 
on  the  American  Continent.  Gladly  would  the  people 
of  Brazil  have  had  D.  Pedro  spend  his  last  years  as 
monarch  of  the  land  he  loved,  for  the  people  of  the  land 
loved  him.  But  they  would  none  of  the  ultramontane 
Princess  Isabel,  or  of  her  bigoted  husband,  the  Count 
d'Eu,  of  the  French  house  of  Orleans.  We  may  well 
quote  here  the  striking  language  of  the  historian  Clare  in 
regard  to  Brazil's  last  emperor:  "Thus  ended  the  reign 
of  Dom  Pedro  IL,  one  of  the  best  monarchs  that  ever 
wore  a  crown.  He  immortalized  his  reign  by  his  un- 
selfish efforts  to  benefit  his  subjects,  instead  of  seeking 
his  own  personal  aggrandizement ;  and  he  quietly  ac- 
quiesced in  the  logic  of  events  which  involved  the  sacri- 
fice of  his  throne."  The  empress  died  in  Lisbon  on 
December  28,  1889;  and  Dom  Pedro  passed  away  in 
Paris,  on  December  5,  1891. 

We  now  come  to  the  last  period  of  the  history,  and 
have  before  us  Republican  Brazil.  The  Provisional 
Government  organized  on  November  15,  went  quietly  to 
work  to  perpetuate  the  republican  institutions.     The  Re- 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         65 

public  had  been  proclaimed  in  the  name  of  the  army  and 
navy;  but  it  must  be  adopted  and  cherished  by  the 
people.  Accordingly,  provision  was  made  for  the  elec- 
tion of  a  Constitutional  Congress.  It  assembled  in  Sep- 
tember, 1890,  and  on  the  24th  of  February,  1891,  the 
Constitution  was  proclaimed.  It  is  a  state  paper  of  great 
ability,  closely  modeled  after  the  great  charter  of  North 
American  liberties,  improving  on  it,  in  some  particulars, 
and  in  others,  modifying  it  the  better  to  suit  the  needs 
and  to  meet  the  tendencies  of  a  Latin  people  just  emerg- 
ing from  monarchy.  The  distinction  is  clearly  empha- 
sized between  the  three  great  branches  of  government — 
the  legislative,  the  executive  and  the  judicial.  The  ex- 
ecutive function  vests  in  the  President  and  his  six  cab- 
inet ministers  who  form  his  political  household.  The 
legislative  power  vests  in  a  Congress  composed  of  two 
chambers — the  deputies  and  the  senators,  all  elected  by 
the  direct  suffrages  of  the  people.  The  same  is  true  of 
the  President.  The  judiciary,  both  federal  and  state,  is 
organized  much  as  in  the  United  States. 

The  Capitanias  of  colonial  times  became  provinces  of 
the  kingdom  and  of  the  empire,  their  number  increasing 
to  twenty.  These  twenty  provinces  became  the  twenty 
states  of  the  Republic,  varying  as  much  in  size  as  Rhode 
Island  and  Texas. 

During  the  twenty  years  of  the  Republic's  life,  six 
men  have  occupied  the  presidential  chair.  The  first 
President  elected  was  Generalissimo  Manoel  Deodoro  da 
Fonseca,  who  had  been  provisional  president.  After  his 
election,  he  held  the  reins  of  government  less  than  a 
year.  A  naval  revolt  compelled  him  to  hand  over  the 
reins  to  the  vice-president,  Floriano  Peixoto.  The  his- 
tory of  the  first  eight  years  of  the  Republic  is  the  history 


66  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

of  revolution  and  strife.  This  was  to  be  expected: 
periods  of  radical  political  change  must  necessarily  be 
periods  of  disorder.  It  was  so  in  the  North  American 
Republic,  where  republican  ideas  were  in  the  blood  of 
the  people;  how  much  more  in  Brazil,  where  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  people,  both  political  and  ecclesiastical,  were 
of  monarchical  government.  The  only  wonder  is  there 
have  been  so  few  revolutions,  and  that  the  nation  should 
have  settled  down  so  soon  to  an  orderly  and  quiet  mode 
of  life.  The  contrast  between  the  history  of  Brazil  in 
this  regard  and  that  of  her  neighbors  in  Central  and 
South  America,  is  the  clearest  proof  of  the  essentially 
peaceful  and  orderly  character  of  the  people. 

The  most  serious  disturbance  of  these  twenty  years 
was  the  second  naval  revolt.  It  broke  out  in  September, 
1893,  and  continued  until  March  of  the  following  year. 
Custodio  de  Mello  got  to  himself  much  honor  and  praise 
w^hen  he  compelled  Deodoro  to  resign  from  the-  presi- 
dency; but  when  he  undertook  the  same  thing  with 
Peixoto,  fate  and  the  judgment  of  history  went  against 
him.  But  for  six  months,  the  bay  of  Rio  was  the  scene 
of  much  excitement.  At  first,  the  fight  was  between  two 
parties  of  republicans ;  later  on,  the  result  became  a  mon- 
archist movement,  looking  to  the  restoration  of  the  royal 
family  and  the  empire.  The  attitude  of  Admiral  Ben- 
ham,  who  was  acting  under  orders  from  President  Cleve- 
land, and  who  refused  to  recognize  the  revolted  Brazilian 
squadron  as  having  any  beligerent  rights — the  only  con- 
sistent and  logical  position  possible  in  the  case — broke 
the  force  of  the  revolt,  and  put  an  end  to  the  struggle. 
There  were  several  other  minor  disorders,  but  nothing 
more  so  serious  as  this  naval  revolt. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         67 

Marshal  Floriano  Peixoto  was  the  last  military  presi- 
dent. With  President  Prudente  de  Moraes  came  the 
civil  regime :  and  during  these  twelve  years,  Brazil  has 
entered  upon  an  era  of  unparalleled  prosperity.  Since 
the  proclamation  of  the  Republic,  twenty  years  ago, 
Brazil  has  developed  more,  and  has  done  more  to  win 
for  herself  a  place  of  influence  and  power  in  the  great 
family  of  nations  than  she  had  done  in  any  half-century 
of  her  previous  history.  In  view  of  her  brilliant  begin- 
ning, what  may  we  not  expect  of  her  in  the  coming 
years? 

An  intelligent,  generous,  broad-minded  people,  in- 
habiting a  vast  country  of  inexhaustible  natural  resources, 
working  out  their  destiny  under  a  political  constitution 
that  must  challenge  the  admiration  of  the  world :  such  is 
the  Brazilian  nation  to-day.  As  one  surveys  her  past 
history  and  studies  her  present  conditions,  he  feels  that 
he  must  take  up  the  words  of  Marshal  Deodoro,  uttered 
on  the  15th  of  November,  1889,  and  cry  with  all  his 
heart:    ''Long  live  the  Brazilian  Republic!" 

There  is  just  one  thing  lacking  for  the  development 
of  a  great  power  of  lasting  and  benign  influence :  that  one 
needed  element  will  be  considered  in  the  remaining  chap- 
ters of  this  book. 


68  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   nation's    need BRAZIL  AS   A   MISSION   FIELD. 

This  book,  both  in  its  motive  and  purpose,  is  pri- 
marily a  mission  study.  The  preceding  chapter  closed 
with  the  statement  that  only  one  thing  is  needed  to  make 
Brazil  a  great  world  power  of  lasting  and  benign  influ- 
ence. That  one  thing  needful  is  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  its  purity,  and  the  purpose  of  this  book  is  so 
to  present  the  attractions,  the  possibilities  and  the  needs 
of  the  land  and  the  people  that  Evangelical  Christendom 
may  be  stirred  to  earnest  and  persistent  effort  to  win  the 
nation  for  Christ  and  for  his  Kingdom. 

But  when  Brazil's  claims  as  a  great  and  important 
mission  field  are  presented,  two  objections  are  at  once 
offered.  Some  years  ago,  a  missionary  was  asked  to 
address  an  audience  in  the  mountains  of  Virginia.  As 
it  was  a  mixed  audience,  as  to  age,  creed,  and  religious 
interests,  the  speaker,  by  way  of  introduction,  had  quite 
a  good  deal  to  say  about  Brazil's  material  wealth  and 
progress,  speaking  of  her  railroads,  electric  lights  and 
cars,  her  banks,  her  commerce  and  her  handsome  modern 
cities.  He  was  somewhat  taken  aback  when  he  heard 
of  one  of  his  auditors  having  remarked,  that  he  was 
sure,  after  hearing  the  lecture,  that  Brazil  did  not  need 
missionaries.  Quite  a  disappointing  result  of  a  mission- 
ary address,  all  will  agree.  The  story  is  told  because 
that  old  Virginian  mountaineer  is  a  type.  Many  who 
read  the  account  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  Brazil's 


Rev.    G.    W.    CHAMBERLAIN.    D.    D.. 
Pioneer    Missionary    of    the    Presbyterian    Church,    U.    S.    A. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         69 

commercial  development,  of  her  modern  cities  and  of 
her  advanced  material  civilization  will,  at  first,  be  ready 
to  say  that  a  country  so  highly  civilized  has  no  need  of 
missionaries  or  of  missionary  work.  But  it  may  be 
asked,  in  reply,  will  civilization  save  a  man  or  a  nation? 
Will  electric  lights  illumine  the  road  that  leads  to  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven?  and  will  street  cars  and  railway 
trains  carry  sinners  to  the  Gates  of  Pearl?  In  the  light 
of  God's  Word  and  of  sacred  history,  such  an  idea  seems 
absurd.  Suppose  Paul  had  entertained  such  ideas,  would 
he  have  gone  from  the  obscure  province  of  Judea  to 
preach  the  gospel  in  Athens  and  in  Rome,  the  centres 
of  the  world's  learning  and  power?  Greece  had  intel- 
lectual culture  and  artistic  taste;  Rome  had  the  most 
splendid  material  civilization  the  world  had  ever  seen; 
but  Judea  had  the  gospel  which  was  "the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation,"  and  Paul  well  knew  that  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  was  the  salt  that  was  to  save  the  earth. 

But  a  more  serious  objection  still  is  urged  when  the 
claims  of  Brazil  as  a  mission  field  are  pressed.  Many 
worthy  people  seriously  question  the  propriety  of  sending 
Protestant  missionaries  to  papal  lands.  Brazil  being  a 
Roman  Catholic  country,  these  good  people  say,  the 
Brazilians  have  a  form  of  Christianity,  and  they  think 
it  unwise,  if  not  uncharitable  and  unchristian,  to  be 
prosecuting  missionary  work  among  them. 

"By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  the  Saviour 
said..  For  four  hundred  years,  Romanism  has  had 
full  sway  in  Brazil,  and,  unhindered  by  other  in- 
fluences, it  has  developed  according  to  his  own 
genius  and  principles.  Here,  we  should  expect  to 
find  it  in  its  full  flower  and  fruitage ;  and  Romanism, 
as  seen  in  Brazil,  is  not  the  religion  of  Christ. 
It     wears     the     livery     of     Christianity,     but     in     its 


70  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

form  and  in  its  essence  it  is  pagan.  That  there  are  ele- 
ments of  Christian  truth  found  in  it,  all  gladly  admit ;  but 
these  elements  of  truth  are  so  covered  over  with  super- 
stition and  error,  and  the  human  element  mingled  with 
the  divine  is  made  so  prominent,  that  Romanism  as  it  is 
found  in  Brazil  cannot  rightly  be  called  Christianity. 
As  a  result  of  Rome's  influence  in  Brazil  during  these 
four  hundred  years,  we  find  that  the  educated  classes 
are  almost  entirely  given  over  to  radical  skepticism  in 
some  one  of  its  many  forms,  and  that  the  uneducated 
masses  are  sunk  in  a  system  of  superstitious  idolatry  that 
is  much  more  closely  akin  to  the  ancient  and  modern 
paganism  than  to  the  religion  of  Christ  Jesus.  James 
Freeman  Clarke,  in  his  able  work,  "Ten  Great  Religions," 
speaking  of  the  religion  of  ancient  Rome,  remarks :  "So 
ended  the  Roman  religion;  in  superstition  among  the 
ignorant,  in  unbelief  among  the  wise."  These  words 
may  be  applied  with  absolute  truthfulness  to  the  effect 
of  Roman  Catholicism  on  the  people  of  Brazil. 

Weighty  testimony  in  support  of  this  grave  indict- 
ment comes  to  us  from  Brazil  itself,  in  the  words  of 
her  very  able  thinker  and  writer,  Snr.  Ruy  Bar- 
bosa,  her  brilliant  representative  at  the  Hague  Confer- 
ence. In  a  remarkable  book,  published  some  thirty  years 
ago,  and  from  which  frequent  quotations  will  be  made  in 
this  and  the  following  chapter,  Snr.  Barbosa,  referring  to 
the  effect  of  Romanism  on  the  people  of  Brazil,  said : 
"Once  the  faith  of  the  people  is  destroyed,  the  upper 
classes  drift  into  indifference,  and  the  lower  classes  fall 
into  the  most  deplorable  idolatry." 

But  some  one  may  say:  Granted  that  the  facts  are 
these — that  the  educated  people  of  Brazil  are  almost  to 
a  man  skeptical,  and  that  extreme  superstition  prevails 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  71 

among  the  masses,  does  it  follow  that  the  responsibility 
should  be  laid  at  the  door  of  Romanism?  Universal 
facts  must  be  explained  by  causes  everywhere  in  opera- 
tion, and  when  we  find  in  all  Roman  Catholic  countries 
the  same  state  of  things  that  is  found  in  Brazil,  and  find, 
too,  that  this  state  of  things  is  in  strong  contrast  with 
the  conditions  in  Protestant  lands,  it  is  hard  to  resist  the 
conclusion  that  the  cause  is  to  be  found  in  Romanism 
itself.  And  not  only  so,  it  is  believed  that  the  careful 
consideration  of  the  facts  presented  in  this  chapter  and 
the  following  one  will  convince  the  unprejudiced  reader 
that  the  natural,  yea,  the  necessary  result  of  Romanism, 
is  to  drive  the  educated  into  skepticism  and  to  lead  the 
ignorant  into  superstition  and  idolatry. 

I.  Let  Some  of  the  Doctrines  of  Rome  he  Examined, 
that  we  may  understand  how  her  influence  will  tend  to 
unbelief.  For  instance,  a  man  is  told  that  he  must  believe 
that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  is  absolutely  infallible  in  any 
and  every  official  utterance  afifecting  doctrine  or  morals, 
and  that  he  must  believe  that  every  pope  from  Peter — 
whom,  against  the  clearest  evidence  to  the  contrary,  they 
affirm  to  have  been  Bishop  of  Rome  for  twenty-five  years 
— down  to  Pius  X.  has  been  thus  infallible.  And  yet 
every  student  of  history  knows  full  well  that  numbers 
of  popes  have  propagated  doctrines  which  the  Church 
of  Rome  itself  now  condemns  as  heresy,  and  that  in 
many  instances  one  pope  has,  been  stout  to  affirm  what 
his  predecessor  was  equally  strong  in  denying. 

Again,  a  man  is  taught  that  the  host,  the  bread  made 
of  flour  and  water  and  used  by  the  priests  of  Rome  in 
the  communion,  is,  after  its  consecration  by  the  priest,  no 
longer  bread,  but  has  been  transubstantiated,  and  has 
become  flesh  and  bone  and  blood  and  spirit  and  divinity, 


72  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

that  it  is  Christ  Jesus  as  truly  as  He  is  Christ  who  sits 
on  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father  in  Heaven.  When 
told  that  it  must  be  bread,  for  it  has  all  the  appearance 
of  bread,  the  Romanist  answers  that  it  is  a  mystery,  and 
asks  if  Christ  did  not  change  the  water  into  wine,  and 
if  so,  whether  God  cannot  change  bread  into  flesh.  Yes, 
we  answer,  but  when  Christ  transubstantiated  the  water 
into  wine,  it  ceased  to  be  water  and  became  wine.  It 
was  wine,  and  the  best  wine  at  the  feast.  To  the  senses 
it  was  wine,  under  analysis  it  would  have  shown  the  ele- 
ments of  wine.  But  when  the  consecrated  host  appears 
to  the  five  senses  to  be  bread,  when  under  chemical 
analysis  it  is  seen  to  possess  all  of  the  elements  of  bread 
and  none  of  the  elements  of  flesh  and  bone  and  blood!., 
can  any  rational  being  believe  that  it  is  not  bread,  but  is 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  truly  and  as  really  as  he  exists 
in  heaven?  To  do  so  one  must  discredit  the  testimony 
of  his  five  senses,  subvert  the  very  basis  of  human  evi- 
dence, and  do  violence  to  the  most  fundamental  laws 
of  human  reason. 

But  not  only  is  the  man  told  that  he  must  believe 
those  things  to  be  pure  Christian  doctrine ;  he  is  further- 
more assured  that  unless  he  does  believe  them,  he  is 
accursed,  is  excommunicated,  condemned  to  eternal  death, 
and  cut  off  from  all  hope  of  salvation.  What  wonder, 
then,  that  we  hear  men  saying  that  truth  is  relative, 
and  that  a  certain  proposition  may  be  true  in  religion,  but 
false  in  science  or  philosophy? — a  doctrine,  this,  as  old 
as  the  time  of  Cicero,  as  we  learn  from  a  quotation  made 
from  "The  Nature  of  the  Gods,"  on  page  341  of  James 
Freeman  Clark's  first  volume  of  "Ten  Great  Religions." 
Cicero  makes  the  Pontifex  Maximus  say:   "I  believe  in 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  73 

the  gods  on  the  authority  and  tradition  of  our  ancestors ; 
but  if  we  reason,  I  shall  reason  against  their  existence." 

What  wonder  that  men  who  reason  feel  the  mind  and 
conscience  revolt  against  such  teaching?  What  wonder, 
if  the  educated  classes  refuse  to  be  guilty  of  such  treason 
against  the  fundamental  laws  of  thought  and  evidence? 
But  when  the  man  has  been  educated  in  a  Romish  home, 
and  remembers  that  his  ancestors  for  generations  have 
been  Romanists,  he  naturally  feels  that  the  traditional 
faith  of  his  fathers  must  be  best  of  them  all ;  and  when 
he  rejects  this,  he  rejects  all  religions.  "If  this  be  Chris- 
tianity," he  says,  "I  will  have  none  of  it."  Thus  it  is  that 
thinking  men  in  papal  lands  become  skeptics. 

II.  The  Attitude  of  Romanism  tozvard  Civil,  Social, 
and  Political  Institutions,  and  Her  Doctrines  on  these 
Subjects  Drive  Thinking  Men  of  the  Governing  Class 
into  Indifference,  Opposition,  and  Skepticism.  For  cen- 
turies, Rome  has  claimed  temporal  power;  has  asserted 
that  the  pope  is  a  temporal  lord ;  that  his  authority  is 
supreme  over  all  temporal  rulers ;  that  he  has  a  right  to 
depose  emperors,  kings,  and  presidents,  and  to  deprive 
them  of  all  power  and  authority ;  and  that  he  has  a  right 
to  absolve  subjects  from  allegiance  to  their  rulers,  and  to 
place  the  country  under  the  ban,  in  case  the  faithful 
should  refuse  obedience  to  thd  papal  mandate.  This 
papal  doctrine,  generally  forgotten  in  these  days  of  poli- 
tical liberty  and  individual  freedom,  is  occasionally  re- 
vived, and  thinking  men  awake  with  a  start,  and  wonder 
if  such  ideas  can  be  possible  in  our  day. 

There  was  a  decided  revival  of  bitterness  and  agita- 
tion on  this  subject  caused  by  the  publication,  in  1864, 
by  Pope  Pius  IX.,  of  his  famous  Syllabus,  in  which  all 
of  the  marvellous  claims  above  referred  to,  and  many 


74  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

others  equally  marvellous,  are  clearly  and  dogmatically 
set  forth.  This  agitation  spread  over  Europe  and  South 
America.  It  was  this  that  called  forth  some  of  Mr. 
Gladstone's  powerful  tracts.  In  Brazil,  the  doctrines  of 
the  Syllabus  became  a  vital  issue,  and  the  agitation  re- 
sulted in  the  imprisonment  of  certain  bishops  who  under- 
took to  put  into  execution  the  principles  advocated  by 
Pius,  by  excommunicating  certain  prominent  free- 
masons and  denying  to  them  the  rites  of  the  church  when 
the  Syllabus  had  not  received  the  sanction  of  the  emperor. 
A  considerable  anti-papal  literature  was  called  forth 
in  Brazil  by  this  agitation.  Joaquin  da  Saldanha  Ma- 
rinho,  a  man  prominent  in  the  nation's  political  life,  also 
a  prominent  mason,  has  four  bulky  volumes  in  which  he 
attacks  Rome,  assailing  her  doctrines,  her  ceremonies, 
her  priesthood,  and  shows  her  deleterious  influence  on 
national  life.  But  by  far  the  most  sober  and  the  most 
able  work  produced  by  that  anti-Romish  propaganda  was 
written  by  no  less  a  man  than  Snr.  Ruy  Barbosa,  the 
man  who  astonished  the  world  some  months  ago  by  his 
able,  eloquent  and  brilliant  presentation  of  the  cause  of 
peace  and  arbitration,  and  by  his  strong  defence  of 
Brazil's  rights,  at  the  Hague  Conference.  It  was  Snr. 
Barbosa  who  thirty  years  ago  took  up  the  cudgels  in 
defence  of  civil  liberty  and  national  rights  in  Brazil,  as 
against  the  principles  of  the  Syllabus.  A  remarkable 
book  had  appeared  in  Germany  under  the  title  "The 
Pope  and  the  Council,"  prepared  by  a  group  of  able  men 
over  the  general  signature  "Janus."  Snr.  Barbosa  trans- 
lated this  book,  and  wrote  an  Introduction  to  it  more 
voluminous  than  the  book  itself.  This  introduction  is  a 
masterly  arraignment  of  Romanism  as  a  perversion  of 
pure  Christianity,  and  as  an  institution  hostile  to  civil 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  75 

liberty,  to  social  progress  and  to  the  larger  interests  of 
mankind.  One  is  simply  amazed  at  the  author's  wide 
learning,  at  his  clear,  firm  grasp  of  the  main  points  at 
issue,  and  especially  at  his  knowledge  of  Scripture  as 
bearing  on  the  controversy  between  evangelical  and  papal 
Christianity.  Frequent  quotations  will  be  made  from 
this  work,  because  no  one  knows  the  subject  more  thor- 
oughly than  Snr.  Barbosa. 

The  Saviour  said,  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world" ; 
Rome  says  that  her  kingdom  is  of  this  world  and  is  all 
of  the  world.  Such  are  Pius'  claims  in  the  Syllabus,  and 
in  regard  thereto  Snr.  Barbosa  says:  "There  (in  the 
book  he  was  translating)  the  sect  of  the  priest-king  was 
accurately  classified  as  to  its  nature,  its  designs,  and  its 
social  tendency ;  it  was  clearly  proved  that  Romanism 
is  not  a  religion,  but  a  political  organization,  and  that, 
too,  the  most  vicious,  the  most  unscrupulous,  and  the  most 
destructive  of  all  political  systems."  (Page  13  of 
Preface).  For  centuries,  the  Jesuit  Order  has  been  con- 
sidered the  enemy  of  civil  liberty  and  of  popular  insti- 
tutions, and  in  consequence,  much  odium  has  been  heaped 
on  the  Jesuits.  But  men  who  see  most  deeply  into  things, 
see  in  Jesuitism  only  the  soul,  the  most  perfect  mani- 
festation of  the  spirit  of  Roman  Catholicism.  On  this 
point,  Snr.  Barbosa  quotes  Macaulay:  "In  the  Order  of 
Jesus,"  says  the  wise  Macaulay,  "is  concentrated  the 
quintessence  of  the  Catholic  (Romish)  spirit,  and  the 
history  of  the  Jesuit  Order  is  the  history  of  the  great 
catholic  reaction.  .  .  .  If  the  Jesuits  are  the  bitterest 
enemies  of  liberty,  intellectual  and  moral,  it  is  that 
Romanism  always  has  been  so  and  still  is,  and  the  Jesuits 
are  only  members  of  Rome,  simply  practical  revelations 
of   the   papal   system   in   action,  organized,   armed,   and 


'j^         The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

militant."  (Introduction,  p.  21.)  In  the  same  strain, 
our  author  writes :  ''If  Jesuitism  is  a  perpetual  conspir- 
acy against  the  peace  that  has  for  its  basis  liberty  and 
parliamentary  institutions,  it  is  only  because  the  church 
of  the  infallible  pope  hates  all  modern  constitutions,  as 
being  in  their  very  nature  incompatible  with  the  tem- 
poral power  of  the  clergy"  (Int.,  p.  6).  Of  this  same 
order — the  Jesuits — he  says  again :  "The  wisest  work  of 
darkness  which  the  perversion  of  Christian  morality 
could  devise." 

Again,  on  the  general  subject  of  Rome  as  a  political 
organization,  and  of  her  hostile  attitude  toward  free 
civil  institutions,  Snr.  Barbosa  writes:  'Tf  the  bishop  is 
systematically  rebellious  against  constitutional  authority, 
if  he  is  a  despot  with  his  own  subjects  in  the  religious 
domain,  and  at  the  same  time  insubordinate  to  the  civil 
law,  it  is  because  he  is  really  the  servant  of  the  Romish 
hierarchy,  and  because  Rome's  rule  of  action  has  ever 
been  her  purpose  to  enslave  the  individual  conscience 
of  the  clergy,  and  control  the  temporal  power  of  the 
church.  If  the  monks  are  the  propagators  of  fanatic- 
ism, the  debasers  of  Christian  morals,  it  is  because  the 
history  of  papal  influence  for  many  centuries  has  been 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  story  of  the  dissemina- 
tion of  a  new  paganism,  as  full  of  superstition  and  of  all 
unrighteousness  as  the  mythology  of  the  ancients — a  new 
paganism  organized  at  the  expense  of  evangelical  tradi- 
tions shamelessly  falsified  and  travestied  by  the  Roman- 
ists. ...  If  Rome  wishes  to  refute  this  conclusion  of 
ours,  she  will  have  to  prove  that  she  has  kept  her  spiritual 
character  free  from  the  corrupting  influence  of  the  world. 
The  opposite,  however,  is  true ;  for  the  Romish  church 
in  all  ages  has  been  a  power — religious  scarcely  in  name, 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  'j'j 

but  always,  inherently,  essentially,  and  untiringly  a  poli- 
tical power."    (Int.,  p.  6.) 

But  this  masterly  accuser  of  Rome  does  not  confine 
himself  to  abstract  denunciation ;  he  brings  history  under 
tribute  to  substantiate  his  accusations,  and  two  of  his 
examples  will  here  be  noted.  "Twice  during  the  ominous 
pontificate  of  this  pope  (Innocent  III.)  was  the  undying 
hatred  of  Rome  to  all  reason  and  liberty  manifested  in  a 
most  signal  and  indelible  manner.  First,  when  the 
anathema  was  hurled  against  the  *  Magna  Charta'  of 
England,  the  first  written  formula  of  all  modern  repre- 
sentative constitutions.  This  charter  of  liberty  was  de- 
nounced by  Innocent  III.  as  ignominy  and  heresy.  The 
other  manifestation  of  Rome's  spirit  was  the  crusade 
against  the  Albigenses,  whose  capital  crime  was  not  their 
doctrines,  but  their  freedom  of  thought,  their  contempt 
of  papal  authority,  their  bold  criticism  of  the  pontifical 
tyranny,  with  its  pretensions,  its  theories  and  monstrous 
vices  in  an  age  when  the  expression  'as  vile  as  a  priest' 
was  proverbial.  ...  It  was  in  the  effort  to  suppress 
this  first  insurrection  of  human  intelligence  against  the 
theocratic  despotism  of  the  popes  that  St.  Dominic,  the 
burner  of  heretics,  obtained  his  title  of  'blessed,'  and  that 
the  instrument  for  the  subjugation  of  the  conscience 
(the  Inquisition)  was  made  a  permanent  and  a  sacred 
institution." 

Unquestionably  education  is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant and  potent  factors  in  national  life,  contributing 
powerfully  to  the  intellectual,  commercial  and  moral 
progress  of  the  people.  The  public  school  systems  of 
Germany,  Switzerland  and  the  United  States  are  cer- 
tainly entitled  to  no  small  share  of  the  honor  of  the  de- 
velopment and  progress  of  those  countries.     All  states- 


78  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

men  understand  this,  and  they  strive  for  the  promotion 
of  pubHc  instruction.  But  in  papal  lands,  they  must 
count  on  the  unremitting  opposition  of  the  clergy.  The 
Syllabus  of  Pius  IX.  condemns  all  state  education,  all 
instruction  of  youth  not  under  the  direction  and  control 
of  the  church.  (See  Schaff-Herzog,  Article  ''Syllabus.") 
As  a  practical  commentary  on  the  principles  of  the  Sylla- 
bus in  relation  to  education,  two  incidents  will  be  men- 
tioned. A  year  ago,  a  brilliant  young  minister  of  state 
in  one  of  the  most  important  commonwealths  of  the 
Brazilian  Republic,  a  man  who  was  bending  all  of  his 
energies  to  the  development  of  the  public  school  system 
of  his  state,  said  to  the  writer :  ''The  greatest  obstacle 
I  have  to  overcome  in  my  work  in  behalf  of  public  in- 
struction is  the  opposition  of  the  Romish  clergy."  An 
able  young  Brazilian  who  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
public  schools  of  Lavias — the  home  of  the  writer — and 
who  was  devoting  his  best  efforts  to  the  work,  said  that 
the  first  move  of  the  local  clergy  was  to  try,  by  all  sorts 
of  strategy,  to  obtain  permission  to  teach  the  Romish 
catechism  in  the  schools;  and  that,  when  they  found  that 
this  could  not  be  managed,  they  began  earnestly,  per- 
sistently and  systematically  to  oppose  and  to  destroy  his 
work. 

When  intelligent  men  who  love  their  country  and  de- 
sire its  prosperity  see  in  papal  Christianity  the  most  seri- 
ous obstacle  to  civil  Jiberty  and  to  stable  government, 
when  they  recognize  that  Romanism  is  the  greatest  hind- 
rance to  intellectual  and  material  advancement,  is  it 
strange  that  they  come  to  fear  and  even  to  hate  this 
enemy?  In  view  of  all  this,  can  we  wonder  that  the 
large  majority  of  the  educated  and  governing  class  are 
confessedly  radical  skeptics  of  some  one  of  the  numerous 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         79 

schools  ?  And  in  view  of  all  this,  it  may  now  be  asked : 
Is  not  this  skepticism  the  natural,  yea,  the  inevitable 
result  of  this  politico-ecclesiastical  institution,  of  this 
degenerate  and  apostate  form  of  Christianity? 

III.  Let  us  next  consider  Romanism  as  a  Moral 
Force,  asking  what  is  its  influence  on  the  general  moral 
condition  of  the  people,  and  to  what  conclusions  the  influ- 
ence thus  exercised  would  lead  thinking  men.  It  must 
be  admitted  by  all  that  religion  should  be  the  supreme 
influence  in  the  moral  uplift  and  regeneration  of  men 
and  of  nations,  and  that  the  relative  value  of  religious 
beliefs  will  be  in  direct  proportion  to  their  power  to 
purify,  strengthen  and  ennoble  the  lives  of  men.  Bearing 
this  in  mind,  it  is  instructive  to  study  moral  conditions 
in  Brazil  and  in  papal  lands  generally. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  full  enough  of  moral 
degradation  in  the  best  of  lands  to  make  a  Christian  hang 
his  head  and  blush  for  shame;  and  it  behooves  us  all  to 
look  first  for  the  beam  in  our  own  eye.  But  a  compari- 
son will  show  that  moral  depravity  is  far  greater  in 
Romish  than  in  Protestant  lands.  In  a  supplementary 
chapter  to  "Seymour's  Evenings  with  the  Romanists,"  a 
m.ost  valuable  and  instructive  book,  comparative  statistics 
are  published  showing  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the 
different  countries  and  cities  of  Europe.  Some  of  the 
figures  given  of  the  moral  conditions  in  papal  cities  and 
countries  are  simply  appalling.  One  can  hardly  believe 
that  he  is  reading  statistics  taken  from  official  sources. 
Nor  is  this  distressing  state  of  things  confined  to  the 
papal  lands  of  Europe ;  in  certain  parts  of  Latin  America, 
matters  are  still  worse.  A  statement  in  Hubert  W.  Brown's 
book,  ''Latin  America,"  in  which  he  quotes  Mr.  W.  E. 
Curtis  as  stating  that  in  Ecuador  seventy-five  per  cent. 


8o  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

of  the  children  that  are  born  are  illegitimate,  gives  one 
a  feeling  of  horror.  It  seems  incredible.  And  this,  be 
it  remembered,  in  a  land  where  the  papal  dominion  has 
been  absolute,  when  there  is  a  Romish  church  to  every 
one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  population,  and  where  one 
person  in  ten  is  a  priest,  a  monk  or  a  nun.  One  might  be 
inclined  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  this  statement  made  by 
Mr.  Curtis,  were  it  not  in  line  with  statements  made  by 
Seymour  in  his  book,  and  by  other  writers  in  regard  to 
other  Romish  countries.  The  comparison  of  the  figures 
taken  from  Curtis,  Seymour  and  others  in  regard  to  con- 
ditions in  Ecuador,  in  the  papal  states  of  Italy,  and  in 
other  strongly  Romish  countries  would  lead  one  to  believe 
that  the  degree  of  moral  depravity  is  in  proportion  to  the 
completeness  of  Rome's  sway.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  state 
that  in  Brazil  moral  conditions  are  better,  that  the  figures 
are  not  for  one  moment  to  be  compared  to  those  of 
Ecuador.  Can  it  be  because  Rome's  grip  on  the  lives  of 
the  people  of  Brazil  is  much  less  firm  than  it  is  on  those 
of  Ecuador's  population? 

The  man  who  studies  moral  conditions  in  Romish 
countries  will  be  at  once  impressed  with  the  fact  that  a 
lower  state  of  morals  prevails  than  in  countries  where 
evangelical  religion  makes  its  influence  felt,  and  that  the 
ideas  of  the  people  generally  are  more  lax.  This  will 
be  felt  in  scores  of  ways,  and  the  conviction  will  be  borne 
in  upon  him  irresistibly.  And  not  only  so,  but  he  will 
be  astounded  to  find  that  to  a  large  extent  religion  and 
morals  are  divorced.  What  seems  to  a  Protestant  Chris- 
tian impossible,  appears  to  be  the  rule  in  papal  lands. 
Often  times  the  most  religious  man  in  the  community  is 
the  most  depraved.  One  of  the  most  absolutely  aban- 
doned characters  known  to  the  writer,  a  man  whose  life 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         8i 

seems  to  be  characterized  by  every  conceivable  vice,  and 
is  redeemed  by  not  a  single  virtue,  once  told  him  in  the 
blandest  way  possible  that  he  was  a  most  religious  man, 
that  he  rarely  failed  to  attend  mass  and  the  religious 
festivals,  and  that  he  was  quite  regular  in  his  prayers. 
The  lenten  season  of  forty  days,  ending  with  the  sol- 
emnities of  holy  week,  is  the  time  in  which  the  Roman 
Catholic  discharges  his  religious  duties  of  the  year.  One 
would  expect  the  people  to  show  the  effects  of  their 
prayers  and  devotions  in  improved  lives  when  the  season 
is  ended;  but  holy  week  is  followed  generally  by  a  per- 
fect orgy  of  sin  and  moral  corruption. 

Without  doubt  a  large  part  of  the  responsibility  for 
the  lax  morals  of  papal  peoples  rests  with  Romanism. 
The  system  of  penances  and  indulgences  deaden  men's 
consciences,  and  gives  them  a  low  conception  of  the  guilt 
of  sin.  Crimes  and  sins  cannot  be  very  serious  matters 
when  the  sinner  can  so  easily  secure  the  assurance  of 
pardon  and  so  easily  pay  his  debt.  If  he  does  not  wish 
to  fast  and  is  averse  to  vain  repetitions  of  prayers  to  his 
saints,  he  can,  by  means  of  a  pecuniary  consideration,  re- 
lieve himself  of  the  necessity  of  prayers  and  penances. 
It  can  be  readily  seen  that  such  ideas  destroy  the  concep- 
tion of  sin  as  that  heinous  thing  which  God  hates  and 
that  carries  in  itself  the  germs  of  eternal  death.  And  this 
explains  a  fact  noticed  by  missionaries  in  papal  lands, 
and  that  at  first  causes  great  surprise,  the  fact  that  one 
so  rarely  sees  a  case  of  really  deep  conviction  of  sin.  A 
missionary  experience  of  twenty  years  will  furnish  one 
or  two  or  three  cases.  The  explanation  is  this — insuffi- 
cient ideas  of  God's  ineffable  purity  and  holiness  of  char- 
acter, and  of  the  exceeding  heinousness  of  sin,  have  low- 


82  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

ered  the  moral  tone  and  destroyed,  to  a  great  extent,  the 
acute  consciousness  of  sin. 

But  if  a  large  measure  of  responsibility  for  the  moral 
laxness  found  in  papal  lands  is  to  be  laid  at  the  door  of 
Romish  doctrine,  no  less  a  measure,  surely,  is  to  be  laid 
at  the  door  of  Rome's  priesthood.  The  people  of  Brazil 
would  lay  by  far  the  larger  measure  of  it  at  the  door  of 
Brazil's  priests.  "Like  priest,  like  people,"  is  a  true 
proverb.  When  those  who  should  be  the  moral  guides 
and  examples  of  the  people  are  men  of  depraved  lives, 
men  of  unblushing  immorality,  this  example  of  moral 
turpitude  must  react  powerfully  on  the  lives  of  the  people 
themselves.  Much  has  been  said  and  written  of  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  Romish  priests  in  South  American  coun- 
tries, and  the  phrase  "as  immoral  as  a  Brazilian  priest" 
may  be  found  in  European  literature,  as  though  these 
were  more  proverbially  depraved.  They  probably  do  not 
merit  this  distinction  as  compared  with  the  priests  of 
other  Latin  American  countries,  but  surely  the  state  of 
things  among  them  is  bad  enough.  Concubinage,  open 
and  unblushing,  is  common  among  them;  and  refined 
sensibilities  are  shocked  at  the  bare  suggestion  of  the 
half  of  the  sad  story  of  moral  depravity.  Celibacy  and 
the  confessional  have  dragged  the  priesthood  into  depths 
of  iniquity  that  are  inconceivable,  and  along  with  them- 
selves they  drag  down  to  their  level  thousands  of  vic- 
tims. The  following  passage  from  Snr.  Barbosa's  pen, 
is  most  delicately  put,  but  it  suggests  plainly  what  it 
would  require  volumes  to  narrate  in  full  detail:  "The 
most  formidable  theatre  for  the  mission  of  the  Jesuit  is 
the  family.  The  wife  and  the  child  easily  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  priest,  and,  as  happens  in  all  Roman  Cath- 
olic countries,  the  domestic  priesthood  of  the  father  is 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  83 

entirely  lost.  How  many  heart-breaking  sorrows  are 
hidden  from  curious  eyes  under  the  domestic  roof,  cal- 
amities that  embitter  the  noblest  affections,  destroy  all 
lawful  rights,  and  incapacitate  so  many  souls.  How  many 
of  these  calamities,  endured  in  silence  and  carefully  hid- 
den from  the  public  gaze,  have  left  in  our  lives  deep  and 
painful  furrows.  .  .  .  Confidence,  which  is  the  neces- 
sary privilege  of  the  husband,  the  essential  bond  of  union 
between  two  souls,  is  shared  with  the  confessor,  or  rather, 
is  entirely  usurped  by  him"  (p.  170). 

The  conditions  in  themselves  are  sufficiently  distress- 
ing, but  they  become  more  distressing  still  when  we  know 
that  the  state  of  things  is  perfectly  well  known  to  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities,  who  cannot  or  will  not  remedy 
the  evils.  That  such  is  the  case,  the  following  extract 
from  an  Encyclical  of  Leo  XHL,  published  in  1897,  and 
quoted  in  "Protestant  Missions  in  South  America,"  p.  205, 
will  more  than  prove:  "In  every  diocese  ecclesiastics 
break  all  bounds  and  deliver  themselves  up  to  manifold 
forms  of  sensuality,  and  no  voice  is  lifted  up  to  imperi- 
ously summon  pastors  to  their  duties.  The  clerical  press 
casts  aside  all  sense  of  decency  and  loyalty  in  its  attacks 
on  those  who  differ,  and  lacks  controlling  authority  to 
bring  it  to  its  proper  use.  There  is  assassination  and 
calumny,  the  civil  laws  are  defieci,  bread  is  denied  to  the 
enemies  of  the  church,  and  there  is  no  one  to  inter- 
pose. .  .  .  As  a  rule,  they  (the  priests)  are  ever  absent 
where  human  misery  exists,  unless  paid  as  chaplains,  or 
a  fee  is  given.  On  the  other  hand,  you  (the  clergy)  are 
always  to  be  found  in  the  houses  of  the  rich,  or  wherever 
gluttony  may  be  indulged  in,  wherever  the  choicest  wines 
may  be  freely  obtained."  This  document  from  his  Infal- 
liable  Holiness  should  be  considered  authoritative;  none 


84  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

can  contest  the  infallible  truth  of  these  statements.  But 
do  these  words  not  confirm  in  toto  the  truth  of  all  that 
has  been  said  as  to  the  moral  depravity  of  the  clergy, 
and  as  to  the  fact  of  this  condition  being  known  to  the 
superior  authorities  who  utterly  fail  to  remedy  the  evil? 
Many  of  the  superiors  do  not  want  the  evils  remedied, 
because  they  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  corruption ;  many 
others,  who  would  correct  abuses,  cannot  do  so,  because 
the  application  of  discipline  would  leave  their  dioceses 
without  parish  priests  to  administer  the  sacraments  and 
attend  to  the  necessary  ecclesiastical  functions.  To  such 
an  extent  has  the  evil  grown,  that  probably  not  one  priest 
in  ten  would  be  left,  were  discipline  applied  to  all  who 
habitually  offend  against  the  most  fundamental  rules  of 
moral  purity. 

This  picture  is  sad  indeed,  but  it  is  not  overdrawn. 
But  what  will  be  the  effect  of  this  state  of  things  on  the 
minds  of  thinking  men,  of  men  who  are  patriots,  who 
long  to  see  their  nation  great  and  strong,  and  who  under- 
stand clearly  that  only  righteousness,  only  moral  rectitude 
in  individual  and  social  life,  can  exalt  a  nation,  while  sin 
is  a  shame  to  any  people  ?  When  thinking  men  understand 
that  Romanism  as  a  system  is  in  very  large  measure  re- 
sponsible for  the  moral  conditions  that  exist  and  that 
hinder  the  growth  of  the  nation,  is  it  not  natural  that 
they  should  say  "If  this  is  Christianity,  away  with  it"? 
Is  it  strange  that  their  minds  and  consciences  revolt 
against  this  travesty  on  religion,  and  that  they  drift  into 
unbelief? 

What  shall  be  said,  though,  about  this  institution  that 
calls  itself  a  branch,  and  the  only  true  branch  of  Chris- 
tendom? What  shall  be  said  of  this  system  which,  instead 
of  drawins:  men,  with  the  cords  of  irresistible  love  and 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  85 

goodness,  to  the  feet  of  the  Master,  drives  them  into  the 
cold,  dark  mists  and  fogs  of  blank  unbelief?  Can  such  a 
system  be  called  Christianity?  Is  it  uncharitable  and  un- 
christian to  urge  that  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in  its 
purity  and  simplicity  be  preached  to  a  people  who  for 
centuries  have  had  no  light  save  the  darkness  of  Romish 
superstition  and  sin?  In  the  light  of  what  has  been  said, 
do  not  the  Brazilians  and  all  the  peoples  of  the  Latin 
America  need  the  saving  influence  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  and  should  not  Brazil  and  the  papal  lands  of 
America  be  considered  proper  and  needy  fields  for 
Evangelical  Missions? 


86         The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  nation's  need  :  brazil  as  a  mission  field. 
(Continued.) 

In  the  preceding  chapter  the  question  was  frankly 
raised  as  to  whether  or  not  Brazil,  being  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic country,  needs  the  work  of  Evangelical  Missions. 
The  question  was  raised  because  many  worthy  people  in 
our  Evangelical  communions  have  serious  doubts  on  the 
subject,  and  a  frank  discussion  of  it  was  attempted.  As 
a  result  of  the  investigation  and  discussion  it  was  found 
that  after  four  hundred  years  of  Rome's  sway  in  Brazil, 
the  educated  classes  are,  almost  to  a  man,  given  over  to 
some  form  of  radical  skepticism,  and  that  the  unlettered 
masses  are  sunk  in  idolatrous  superstition.  In  that  study 
of  the  question,  it  was  seen  why  it  is  that  Romanism 
drives  thinking  men  in  skepticism :  in  the  present  chapter 
Romanism  as  a  Religion  will  be  studied,  and  the  pagan 
and  idolatrous  character  of  the  system  will  be  shown. 

Let  Snr.  Barbosa's  words  be  recalled  at  this  point. 
He  speaks  of  the  lower  classes  falling  into  ''the  most  de- 
plorable idolatry,"  once  faith  be  destroyed;  and  he  refers 
to  Romanism  as  "a  new  paganism,  as  full  of  superstition 
and  all  unrighteousness  as  the  mythology  of  the  ancients, 
— a  new  paganism  organized  at  the  expense  of  evangelical 
traditions  shamelessly  falsified  and  travestied."  Thus  this 
learned  Brazilian,  who  is  neither  a  missionary  nor  a  mem- 
ber of  any  Protestant  communion,  confirms  most  fully 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         87 

the  statements  made  on  this  subject  by  all  missionaries 
who  have  labored  in  Roman  Catholic  countries,  and  of 
all  earnest  souls  who  have  come  into  intimate  contact 
with  Romanism  in  papal  lands  and  have  had  opportunity 
to  know  it  as  it  is. 

I.  In  Its  Outward  Forms  and  Ceremonies,  Ro- 
manism IS  Pure  Paganism.  This  will  be  most  clearly 
seen  by  a  comparison  of  Romanism  zvith  Buddhism.  The 
following  remarkable  passage  on  this  subject  is  taken 
from  James  Freeman  Clarke's  **Ten  Great  Religions," 
Vol.  I,  p.  139  et  seq.  Mr.  Clarke  can  surely  be  accused 
of  no  bigotry  in  his  opposition  to  Romanism;  the  objec- 
tion brought  against  him  by  most  Evangelical  Christians 
would  be  that  he  is  rather  too  liberal.  Yet  he  says: 
''So  numerous  are  the  resemblances  between  the  customs 
of  this  system  (Buddhism)  and  those  of  the  Romish 
church,  that  the  first  Catholic  missionaries  who  encoun- 
tered the  priests  of  Buddha  were  confounded,  and  thought 
that  Satan  had  been  mocking  their  sacred  rites.  Father 
Bury,  a  Portuguese  missionary,  when  he  beheld  the 
Chinese  bonzes  tonsured,  using  rosaries,  praying  in  an 
unknown  tongue,  and  kneeling  before  images,  exclaimed 
in  astonishment :  'There  is  not  a  piece  of  dress,  a  sacer- 
dotal function,  not  a  ceremony  of  the  court  of  Rome, 
which  the  Devil  has  not  copied  in  this  country.'  Mr. 
Davis  (Transactions  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  II, 
491)  speaks  of  'the  celibacy  of  the  Buddhist  clergy,  and 
the  monastic  life  of  the  societies  of  both  sexes ;  to  which 
might  be  added  their  strings  of  beads,  their  manner  of 
chanting  prayers,  their  incense,  and  their  candles."  Mr. 
Medhurst  ("China,"  London,  1857)  mentions  the  image 
of  a  virgin  called  the  "Queen  of  Heaven,"  having  an 
infant  in  her  arms,  and  holding  a  cross.     Confession  of 


88  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

sins  is  regularly  practised.  Father  Hue,  in  his  "Recollec- 
tions of  a  Journey  in  Tartary,  Tibet,  and  China,"  (Haz- 
litt's  translation),  says:  'The  cross,  the  mitre,  the  dalma- 
tica,  the  cope,  which  the  grand  lamas  wear  on  their 
journeys,  or  when  performing  some  ceremony  out  of 
the  temple, — the  service  with  double  choirs,  the  psalmody, 
the  exorcisms,  the  censer  suspended  from  five  chains,  and 
which  you  can  open  or  close  at  pleasure, — the  benedic- 
tion given  by  the  lamas  by  extending  the  right  hand  over 
the  heads  of  the  faithful, — the  chaplet,  ecclesiastical  celi- 
bacy, religious  retirement,  the  worshipping  of  the  saints, 
the  fasts,  the  processions,  the  litanies,  the  holy  water, — all 
these  are  analogies  between  the  Buddhists  and  ourselves.' 
And  in  Thibet,  there  is  also  a  Dalai  Lama,  who  is  a  sort 
of  Buddhist  pope.  Such  numerous  and  striking  analogies 
are  difficult  to  explain."  ''They  are  difficult  to  explain," 
says  Mr.  Clarke,  and  indeed  they  are,  unless  one  is  willing 
to  recognize  their  common  origin.  That  this  passage  may 
not  appear  an  exaggeration  of  Protestant  writers,  let  it 
be  carefully  noted  that  in  most  of  the  passage,  Mr.  Clarke 
is  quoting  from  Roman  Catholic  writers,  the  first  Romish 
missionaries  to  Asia. 

This  close  resemblance  between  Romanism  and 
Buddhism,  or  that  mixture  of  Buddhism  and  Brah- 
minism  that  is  called  modern  Hinduism,  may  be 
learned  from  a  passage  from  the  life  of  Vasco  da  Gama 
by  Latino  Coelho,  one  of  the  most  popular  Portuguese 
authors  of  the  last  century.  In  a  strain  of  delicious 
humor,  this  author,  who  is  not  a  Protestant  writer,  be  it 
remembered,  tells  us  how  Da  Gama  and  his  twelve  com- 
panions were  taken  into  a  Hindu  pagoda,  which,  from  the 
very  striking  resemblances,  they  took  to  be  a  Romish 
church,  of  the  Nestor ian  sect,  and  how  they,  dropping 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         89 

upon  their  knees  before  an  image  which  they  supposed 
to  be  an  image  of  Mary,  devoutly  paid  their  devotions. 
''All  the  chroniclers  are  agreed,"  he  says,  "as  to  the  fact 
of  this  well  meant  worship  of  dulias  have  been  offered 
by  Gama  and  his  twelve  companions  to  the  hideous  ef- 
figies of  Siva  and  Vishnu."  Romanists  in  a  Hindu 
pagoda,  bowing  before  the  image  of  heathen  divinities 
and  imagining  that  they  were  in  a  Romish  church.  This 
story  so  humorously  told  by  Latino  Coelho  speaks  more 
convincingly  than  pages  of  cogent  reasoning  as  to  the 
close  resemblance  between  Roman  Catholicism  and  the 
paganism  of  China  and  India. 

The  fact  that  Romanism  is  pagan  in  form  will  be 
clearly  seen,  too,  hy  comparing  the  religion  of  papal 
Rome  with  that  of  pagan  Rome.  The  resemblances  are 
very  numerous  and  very  striking.  On  this  point,  James 
Freeman  Clarke  writes:  'Tt  has  not  always  been  suffi- 
ciently considered  how  much  the  Latin  church  was  a 
reproduction,  on  a  higher  plane,  of  the  old  Roman  Com- 
monwealth. The  resemblance  between  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic ceremonies  and  those  of  pagan  Rome  has  been  often 
noticed.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  borrowed 
from  paganism  saints'  days,  incense,  lustrations,  conse- 
crations of  sacred  places,  votive  offerings,  reHcs,  wink- 
ing nodding  sweating  and  bleeding  images ;  holy  water, 
vestments,  etc.  But  the  Church  of  Rome  itself,  in  its 
central  idea  of  authority,  is  a  reproduction  of  the  Roman 
state  religion,  which  was  a  part  of  the  Roman  state.  The 
Eastern  churches  were  sacerdotal  and  religious;  the 
Church  of  Rome  added  to  these  elements  that  of  an  or- 
ganized political  authority.  It  was  the  resurrection  of 
Rome, — Roman  ideas  rising  into  a  higher  life.  The 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  at  first  an  aristocratic  republic. 


90  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

like  the  Roman  state,  afterwards  became,  like  the  Roman 
state,  a  disguised  despotism.  The  Papal  Church,  there- 
fore, is  a  legacy  of  ancient  Rome.  And  just  as  the 
Roman  state  was  first  a  help  and  then  a  hindrance  to  the 
progress  of  humanity,  so  it  has  been  with  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church."  ("Ten  Great  Religions,"  p.  349  ct 
seq.)  The  same  author,  describing,  in  a  striking  passage, 
the  corruption  and  death  of  the  ancient  Roman  paganism, 
describes  with  equal  accuracy  and  force  the  decline  and 
the  spiritual  death  of  modern  papal  Rome :  "As  the  old 
faith  died,  more  ceremonies  were  added;  for  as  life  goes 
out,  forms  come  in.  As  the  winter  of  unbelief  lowers 
the  stream  of  piety,  the  ice  of  ritualism  accumulates  along 
its  banks."  (Page  340.)  Thus  we  see  in  the  Romanism 
of  to-day  the  reproduction  of  the  polity,  the  external 
forms  and  ceremonies  of  pagan  Rome;  and  the  present 
contention  is  that  Roman  Catholicism  is,  in  its  form, 
paganism. 

The  truth  of  our  present  thesis,  namely,  that  papal 
Rome  is,  as  to  its  form,  a  modern  paganism,  will  be  still 
further  emphasized  by  a  comparison  of  it  with  the  reli- 
gion of  the  old  pagan  Aztecs  of  Mexico.  Mr.  Brown, 
in  his  book  on  "Latin  America,"  to  which  complimen- 
tary reference  has  already  been  made,  has,  both  in  his 
chapter  on  "The  Pagans"  and  in  that  on  "The  Papists," 
some  very  suggestive  passages  on  this  subject.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  fair  sample,  and  will  doubtless  create  an  appe- 
tite for  more.  "We  have  no  desire,"  writes  Mr.  Brown, 
"to  give  undue  weight  to  the  resemblance  between  the 
heathen  system  and  its  Roman  Catholic  successor;  yet 
we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  resemblances  did  exist,  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  missionaries  were  the  first  to  discover 
them,  so  that  the  devout  Romanist  can  hardly  blame  us 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         91 

for  following  in  their  footsteps.  .  .  .  The  resemblances 
on  which  special  emphasis  should  be  laid  are  not  in  creed, 
but  in  method.  They  have  nothing  to  do  with  what  is 
of  the  essence  of  Christianity,  but  with  those  additions 
made  by  Romanism  which  have  served  to  increase  the 
wealth  and  power  of  the  church,  and  give  well-nigh  abso- 
lute control  to  the  priesthood  over  the  heart  and  con- 
science of  the  people.  Both  systems  reveal  keen  political 
insight  and  a  deep  understanding  of  human  nature. 

In  the  transition  from  the  old  to  the  new  ecclesiastical 
control  there  were,  of  course,  many  real  conversions.  For 
the  majority  of  the  Indians,  however,  it  was  simply  a 
transfer  of  allegiance  from  one  set  of  priests  to  another. 
Once  the  force  of  arms  had  proved  the  Roman  Catholic 
saints  and  soldiers  to  be  stronger,  the  Indian,  except  when 
he  worshipped  his  old  idols  in  secret,  simply  abandoned 
them  for  the  God  and  saints  of  Romanism;  the  bloody 
sacrifice  of  the  old  worship  for  the  bloodless  sacrifice 
of  the  mass.  He  still  bowed  before  images,  only  now  of 
Christ,  the  Virgin  Mother  and  the  saints.  He  still  had 
penance  and  confession,  processions,  fasts  and  feasts, 
convent  schools  and  religious  holidays.  In  what  I  have 
to  say  of  Roman  Catholic  missions,  these  points,  together 
with  the  bodily  transfer  of  heathen  elements  into  Romish 
feasts,  will  be  taken  up  again.  Ponder,  however,  this 
fact,  that  it  was  where  paganism  had  reached  its  highest 
ceremonial  development  that  Romanism  won  its  largest 
acquisitions.  Has  this  fact  no  significance?"  (Page  48 
et  seq.) 

One  of  the  most  thorough  and  scholarly  discussions  of 
this  whole  subject  of  the  relation  between  the  religion 
of  papal  Rome  and  the  great  pagan  religions  of  ancient 
and  modern  times  is  that  given  by  the  Rev.  Alexander 


92  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

Hislop,  of  the  U.  F.  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland, 
in  his  book  entitled  "The  Two  Babylons:  or  the  Papal 
Worship  proved  to  be  the  Worship  of  Nimrod  and  his 
Wife." 

Mr.  Hislop  maintains  that,  in  their  distinctive  charac- 
teristics, ancient  Babylon  and  modern  Rome  are  as  one. 
The  objects  of  worship,  the  festivals,  the  doctrines,  the 
discipline,  the  rites,  the  ceremonies,  and  the  religious 
orders, — in  a  word,  all  that  is  distinctly  characteristic 
of  modern  Roman  Catholicism,  had  in  the  paganism  of 
ancient  Babylon  its  clear  and  evident  counterpart.  Let 
two  quotations  be  made.  "The  ancient  Babylonians,  just 
as  the  modern  Romans,  recognized  in  zvords  the  unity  of 
the  Godhead;  and,  while  worshiping  innumerable  minor 
deities,  as  possessed  of  a  certain  influence  on  human  af- 
fairs, they  distinctly  acknowledged  that  there  was  one 
infinite  and  almighty  Creator,  supreme  over  all."  Here 
we  have  Rome's  worship  of  the  Supreme  God  along  with 
her  worship  of  innumerable  saints.  Again,  "The  Babylo- 
nians in  their  popular  religion,  supremely  worshiped  a 
Goddess  Mother  and  a  Son,  who  was  represented  in  pic- 
tures and  in  images  as  an  infant  or  child  in  his  mother's 
arms^  From  Babylon,  this  worship  of  the  Mother  and 
Child  ;5pread  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  In  Egypt,  the 
Mother  and  the  Child  were  worshiped  under  the  names  of 
Isis  and  Osiris.  In  India,  even  to  this  day,  as  Isa  and 
Iswara ;  in  Asia,  as  Cybele  and  Deoius ;  in  pagan  Rome, 
as  Fortuna  and  Jupiter-puer,  or  Jupiter,  the  boy;  in 
Greece,  as  Ceres  the  great  Mother  with  the  babe  at  her 
breast,  or  as  Irene,  the  goddes  of  Peace,  with  the  boy 
Plutus  in  her  arms ;  and  even  in  Tibet,  China,  and  Japan, 
the  Jesuit  missionaries  were  astonished  to  find  the  coun- 
terpart of  Madonna  and  her  child  as  devoutly  worshiped 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         93 

as  in  papal  Rome  itself;  Shing  Moo,  the  Holy  Mother  in 
China,  being  represented  with  a  child  in  her  arms,  and  a 
glory  around  her  head,  exactly  as  if  a  Roman  Catholic 
artist  had  been  employed  to  set  her  up."  (Page  20.) 
What  could  be  added  to  a  passage  like  this  to  make  the 
demonstration  of  the  practical  of  oneness  of  modern  Ro- 
manism with  the  pagan  religions  of  the  world  absolutely 
convincing?  But  this  is  just  a  sample  of  what  Mr.  Hislop 
gives  his  readers  throughout  his  book.  The  work  needs 
to  be  closely  read  to  be  appreciated. 

The  close,  numerous  and  remarkable  resemblances 
between  modern  Roman  Catholicism  and  the  paganism  of 
India,  China,  Babylon,  Mexico  and  Rome  have  now  been 
noted,  and  no  one  can  read  of  these  things  without  being 
profoundly  impressed.  But  what  is  the  explanation  of 
these  so  striking  resemblances  between  religious  systems 
found  in  countries  so  remote,  and  in  epochs  so  distant 
one  from  another?  Is  it  that  they  all  come  from  a  com- 
mon source  in  Babylon,  as  Mr.  Hislop  thinks?  That 
v^rill  doubtless  explain  a  great  many  of  the  analogies  and 
resemblances;  but  is  there  not  another  and  a  still  deeper 
reason  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  there  is  an  essential 
unity  in  all  false  religions,  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
case?  There  will  be  differences,  due  to  local  environ- 
ment and  to  many  secondary  circumstances;  but  the 
essential  features  of  the  various  systems,  developed  in 
various  lands,  will  be  the  same.  All  of  these  paganisms 
are  man-made  religions ;  and  all  man-made  religions  will 
be  similar,  will  show  the  hand  of  their  maker. 

Of  these  man-made  religious,  Romanism  easily 
ranks  first.  Given  a  certain  element  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion as  a  starting  point,  as  a  foundation  on  which  to 
build,  and  the  human  mind  and  weak  human  nature  will 


C4  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

construct  a  religious  system  very  similar  to  Romanism. 
It  has  often  occurred  to  the  writer  that  all  that  Rome 
has  added  to  the  Christian  religion,  and  the  larger  part 
of  modern  Roman  Catholicism  belongs  to  this  human- 
conceived  element,  has  been  conceived  with  consummate 
art  and  wisdom  to  appeal  to  weak  and  fallen  human 
nature.  Nothing  could  be  devised  that  would  appeal  more 
powerfully  to  unregenerate  human  nature,  to  the  human 
mind  unenlightened  by  God's  Word,  than  these  man-made 
doctrines  of  Rome.  Purgatory;  prayers  to  the  saints; 
prayers,  masses  and  other  offerings,  made  in  behalf  of 
the  souls  of  deceased  loved  ones ;  above  all,  the  concep- 
tion of  Mary  as  the  embodiment  of  all  that  is  most  loving, 
most  tender,  most  compassionate,  most  merciful;  these 
and  other  doctrines  of  Rome's  invention  are  perfect  mas- 
terpieces for  the  entraping  of  unwary  souls,  who  have 
not  been  guided  by  the  clear  light  of  divine  Revelation. 
II.    Not  only  is  Romanism  pagan  in  form,  it  can 

BE  shown  with  equal  CLEARNESS  THAT  THE  SYSTEM  IS 
ALSO  PAGAN  IN  SPIRIT  AND  IN  MANY  OF  ITS  DOC- 
TRINES. The  doctrines  of  baptismal  regeneration,  of  pur- 
gatory, of  prayers  for  the  dead,  of  extreme  unction,  and 
of  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  can  all  be  traced,  as  Mr. 
Hislop  shows,  through  more  recent  sources  on  back  to 
Babylon.  A  comparison  between  Buddhism  and  Roman- 
ism on  this  point  will  be  most  instructive.  Both  in 
Buddhism  and  in  Romanism,  salvation  consists  in  escape 
from  evil  and  suffering,  and  not  in  conformity  to  the 
divine  image  and  pattern  as  taught  in  Biblical  Christianity. 
In  both  systems,  a  man's  salvation  is  obtained  by  his 
own  merit,  that  is,  by  the  work  of  his  own  hands,  and 
not  by  faith  in  a  divinely  appointed  and  vicarious  substi- 
tute, as  is  so  clearly  taught  in  God's  Word.    In  Buddhism 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil         95 

and  in  Romanism  the  motive  to  charity  and  good  works 
is  a  selfish  one — namely,  personal  reward  in  one's  salva- 
tion— and  not  love  to  God  and  to  man,  as  given  in  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  Thus  the  two  systems  transform  char- 
ity, the  queen  of  the  Christian  virtues,  into  a  system  of 
refined  selfishness.  In  both,  the  idea  of  purification  by 
suffering  after  death  is  prominent:  in  Romanism,  it  is 
purification  by  the  pains  and  in  the  fires  of  purgatory; 
in  Buddhism,  it  is  purification  by  successive  reincarna- 
tions. In  Buddhism,  the  God  is  Buddha  himself;  and  in 
Romanism,  the  pope,  in  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of 
II  Thess.  ii.  4,  is  coming  to  receive  divine  honors.  Snr. 
Barbosa,  in  a  foot-note  on  page  91,  quotes  from  a  kind 
of  formula,  organized  by  the  Jesuits,  for  the  confession 
of  faith  by  certain  neo-romanists  toward  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  following:  "We  confess  that 
the  most  Holy  Father  (that  is,  the  pope)  should  receive 
divine  honors^  and  that  too,  with  the  most  profound  genu- 
flections, as  if  in  the  presence  of  Christ  himself."  Is  that 
not  horrible  blasphemy?  And  do  not  these  things  prove 
the  point  at  present  under  consideration,  and  show  con- 
clusively that  Romanism,  in  doctrine,  spirit  and  essence, 
as  well  as  in  outward  forms,  is  a  modern  paganism? 

III.  Again,  it  may  be  affirmed  that  a  careful  study  of 
the  subject  will  lead  one  irresistibly  to  the  conviction  that 
Romanism,  in  its  True  Genius  and  Character,  is 
Subversive  of  the  Fundamental  Teachings  of  the 
Divinely  Revealed  Religion  of  Christ.  That  is  a  tre- 
mendous indictment,  but  the  charge  can  be  made  good. 

I.  Romanism  practically  nidlifies  the  authority  of  the 
Bible  as  the  source  of  religious  teaching,  and  sets  up  in 
its  place  the  authority  of  fallible  man.  The  Bible,  ac- 
cording to  Romish  teaching,  is  of  no  value,  but  is  rather 


96         The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

dangerous,  unless  interpreted  by  the  church;  and  the 
church's  interpretation  must  be  accepted  as  final,  even 
though  it  may  do  violence  to  every  known  rule  of  exe- 
gesis and  to  every  principle  of  sound  common  sense. 
Once  this  proposition  of  Romanism  is  accepted,  the  gates 
are  open  to  the  introduction  of  the  most  absurd  and  un- 
scriptural  doctrines,  as  in  the  case  of  transubstantiation, 
the  mass,  celibacy  and  papal  infallibility.  The  following 
passages,  quoted  by  Barbosa  from  the  confession  of  faith 
formulated  by  the  Jesuits  and  already  referred  to  above, 
while  not  taken  from  official  doctrinal  symbols  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  do  however,  set  forth  clearly  the  Romish 
position  on  this  subject:  "We  confess  that  all  the  new 
ceremonies  and  ordinances  instituted  by  the  pope,  foreign 
to  or  inherent  in  the  Scriptures,  and  all  that  he  has  or- 
dained, is  true,  divine  and  holy,  and  men  generally  should 
prize  it  more  than  the  commandments  of  the  living  God." 
''We  confess  that  the  Scriptures  are  imperfect,  and  noth- 
ing more  than  a  dead  letter,  unless  explained  by  the 
Roman  pontiff,  or  until  the  reading  thereof  has  been 
permitted  to  the  people  at  large."  (Quoted  in  foot-note 
on  page  91.) 

Do  not  these  propositions  practically  destroy  the  au- 
thority of  God's  Word?  And  when  that  is  done,  is  not 
the  divine  authority  of  Christianity  destroyed?  and  are 
not  the  fundamental  teachings  of  the  gospel  subverted? 

2.  The  objects  of  zvorship  in  Roman  Catholicism  are 
anti-biblical  and  anti-christian.  Worship  is  the  supreme 
act  of  the  human  soul,  and  when  the  objects  of  worship 
are  not  divine,  the  worship  is  pagan  worship,  and  conse- 
quently, utterly  subversive  of  the  teachings  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  Word  of  God  teaches  that  God  himself  is 
the  one  and  only  object  worthy  of  man's  worship;  but 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  97 

Rome  teaches  that  her  scores  of  saints,  the  angels,  and 
especially  the  Virgin  Mary,  should  be  worshiped  by  the 
faithful.  It  is  true  that  they  try  to  draw  a  distinction 
between  the  worship  offered  to  God  and  that  offered  to 
Mary,  and  that  offered  to  the  saints.  But  it  is  a  dis- 
tinction without  a  difference:  their  religious  teachers  are 
unable  to  give  any  satisfactory  distinction  between  the 
different  kinds  of  worship,  and  how  could  we  expect 
the  ignorant  masses  to  do  so?  Adoration,  in  its  original 
meaning  (ad-orare,  pray  to)  gives  us  the  true  idea  of 
worship.  When  the  Romanist  prays  to  the  saints  or  to 
Mary  he  worships  them;  and  how  can  he  pray  to  the 
saints  in  heaven  without  attributing  to  them  the  divine 
attributes  of  omnipresence,  omniscience,  etc.  ?  and  this 
is  of  the  very  essence  of  idolatry — giving  to  the  creature 
what  should  be  given  to  the  Creator  alone. 

Not  only  are  these  creatures  of  God  put  alongside  of 
the  Creator  to  be  the  sharers  of  the  worship  that  should 
be  offered  to  Him  alone,  all  who  are  in  the  least  familiar 
with  the  conditions  in  papal  lands  know  full  well  that 
the  creature  comes  to  usurp  and  monopolize  the  worship 
of  the  faithful.  The  late  Dr.  Thos.  E.  Peck,  of  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  in  Virginia,  w^as  wont  to  say  that 
if  we  would  know  the  true  character  of  the  religion  of 
a  people,  we  should  examine,  not  so  much  their  doc- 
trinal confessions,  but  the  worship  and  the  devotional 
books  of  the  faithful.  That  is  a  true  criterion;  and  if 
we  judge  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  by  the  devotional 
acts  of  the  common  people  and  by  their  devotional  liter- 
ature, we  shall  certainly  conclude  that  the  papists  "wor- 
ship and  serve  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator."  The 
most  popular  devotional  books  of  the  Romanists  will  be 
a  revelation  to  any  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  read 


q8  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

them.  The  prayers  are  largely  addressed  to  the  saints 
and  to  Mary;  and  even  when  addressed  to  God,  the 
saints  will  somewhere  come  in  for  a  good  share  before 
the  prayer  is  finished. 

But  the  most  popular  divinity  of  the  pantheon  of  mod- 
ern Rome  is  the  Virgin  Mary.  She  may  be  said  to  be 
supreme  in  the  devotion  and  in  the  worship  of  Roman 
Catholics.  Mr.  Seymour,  in  his  book  already  mentioned, 
"Evenings  with  the  Romanists,"  quotes  a  remark  made 
to  him,  with  very  evident  pleasure  and  gratification,  by  a 
priest  in  Rome,  to  the  effect  that  it  was  quite  evident  that 
the  religion  of  Rome  was  becoming  more  and  more  "the 
religion  of  Mary."  Protestants  generally  are  shocked  by 
such  statements;  they  find  it  hard  to  believe  them,  and 
are  disposed  to  attribute  them  to  prejudice  and  exaggera- 
tion on  the  part  of  missionaries.  But  no  impartial  person 
can  live  in  close  contact  with  Romanism  in  papal  lands, 
even  for  a  short  time,  without  becoming  fully  convinced 
that  the  priest  in  Rome  spoke  truly  when  he  said  to  Mr. 
Seymour  that  the  religion  of  Rome  is  becoming  more 
and  more  the  religion  of  Mary.  The  worship  of  and 
devotion  to  Mary  is  the  Holy  of  Holies  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith.  One  may  attack  the  doctrine  of  purga- 
tory, of  the  mass,  of  the  worship  of  images,  and  no  ob- 
jection will  be  made;  he  may  declaim  loudly  against  the 
immoralities  of  the  priests  and  show  the  great  evils  aris- 
ing from  the  confessional,  and  he  will  elicit  the  applause 
of  his  audience;  but  if  he  touches  on  the  doctrines  con- 
cerning Mary  and  her  worship,  he  at  once  sees  that  he 
has  aroused  animosity.  A  man  may  utter  the  most  hor- 
rible blasphemies  against  Christ  and  against  God  without 
arousing  half  the  indignation  he  will  arouse  by  calling  in 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil  99 

question  the  propriety  of  Mary's  worship  or  the  efficacy 
and  vahie  of  her  mediation. 

To  the  Roman  Cathohc,  Mary  represents  the  supreme 
conception  of  tenderness,  gentleness,  compassion  and 
mercy.  All  that  the  ardent,  mystic  of  Protestantism  attri- 
butes to  Christ  as  the  loving,  tender,  compassionate 
Saviour,  ever  ready  to  hear  the  cry  of  his  little  ones, 
never  turning  away  from  the  helpless  ones — all  this  the 
Romanist  gives  to  Mary,  and  is  sure  that  he  is  right, 
for  is  not  woman  more  tender  and  merciful  than  man? 
is  not  the  mother,  rather  than  the  father,  the  impersona- 
tion of  gentleness  and  compassion?  Such  is  Rome's  ar- 
gument, based  on  human  relations,  by  means  of  which 
she  would  entirely  set  aside  the  clear,  unmistakable  teach- 
ings of  the  Scriptures,  and  thus  subvert  the  fundamental 
tenets  of  the  Christian  faith.  ''We  confess,"  the  Jesuits 
taught  their  converts  to  say,  "that  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary 
should  be  held  in  greater  esteem  by  men  and  angels  than 
Christ  himself,  the  Son  of  God."  (Quoted  by  Barbosa, 
page  91.)     What  more  could  pagan  blasphemy  say? 

3.  The  Mode  of  Worship  in  Romanism  is  Anti-Bibli- 
cal and  Subversive  of  the  fundamental  teachings  of  the 
gospel.  The  first  commandment  of  the  decalogue  deter- 
mines and  limits  the  object  of  man's  worship;  the  second 
determines  and  limits  the  manner  in  which  that  worship 
should  be  offered.  Jesus  taught  the  Samaritan  woman,  at 
Jacob's  well,  that  only  spiritual  worship  is  acceptable  to 
God.  Not  so,  thinks  and  teaches  Rome ;  worship  should 
be  given  by  means  of  images  of  Christ ;  of  the  Spirit,  in 
the  form  of  a  dove;  of  the  Father  Eternal,  sometimes 
represented  as  an  aged  man  with  long  flowing  hair  and 
beard,  and  sometimes— as  in  Spain,  referred  to  by  His- 
lop by  an  image  with  three  heads  on  one  body,  symboli- 


loo        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

cal  of  the  triune  nature  of  Jehovah.  Not  content  with  the 
simple  worship  authorized  by  God  who  is  a  Spirit,  Ro- 
manism organizes  vast  processions,  with  images,  priests 
in  flowing  robes,  the  smoke  of  incense  ascending,  with 
candles  and  brass  bands,  with  all  the  pomp  and  para- 
phernalia of  a  vast  and  sensuous  ritual,  seeking  by  every 
art  to  impress  and  appeal  to  man's  sensuous  nature;  and 
this  she  calls  true  worship.  '*As  the  winter  of  unbelief 
lowers  the  stream  of  piety,"  says  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
"the  ice  of  ritualism  accumulates  along  its  banks."  Will- 
worship  is  idolatry. 

4.  The  teachings  of  Rome  Subvert  the  Biblical  Dos- 
trines  of  the  Atonement,  The  Scriptures  teach  that 
Christ  Jesus  is  the  only  Saviour  of  sinners,  that  ''there 
is  none  other  name  under  heaven,  given  among  men 
whereby  we  must  be  saved" ;  Rome  says,  not  so, 
but  that  all  the  saints  of  her  calendar  have  power  to 
aid  in  the  sinner's  salvation,  while  she  has  given 
to  the  Virgin  Mary  every  title  indicative  of  saving 
power  and  grace  that  is  given  in  the  Scriptures  to  the 
Saviour  alone.  The  Bible  teaches  that  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  Christ  are  the  one,  only,  and  all-sufficient  ground 
for  man's  pardon,  justification,  adoption  and  eternal  re- 
demption ;  Rome  says  no,  the  mass  also  is  a  true  sacrifice 
for  sin,  efficacious  for  the  living  and  the  dead,  while  pen- 
ances and  the  sufferings  of  purgatory  are  also  necessary 
to  complete  or  supplement  the  work  of  Christ.  God's 
Word  teaches  us  that  ''there  is  one  God  and  one  Mediator 
between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus."  Rome  in- 
sists, not  so,  the  saints,  and  especially  the  Virgin  Mary, 
are  also  mediators,  whose  aid  and  advocacy  we  should 
constantly  seek  and  whose  efficient  protection  it  is  dan- 
gerous to  neglect.    Christ  may  be  the  mediator  with  God, 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        ioi 

but  he  being  distant  and  so  holy  in  his  divine  majesty, 
we  need  the  saints  and  the  Virgin  to  be  mediators  be- 
tween us  and  Christ.  These  doctrines  are  taught, 
and  so  thoroughly  and  persistently  taught  that,  in 
Brazil,  the  saints  and  the  Virgin  are  looked  upon  in  the 
devotions  of  the  people  as  those  to  whom,  in  the  first 
place,  and  with  most  confidence,  sinners  should  look  for 
salvation.  One  constantly  hears  the  people  say :  "Having 
our  Lady  (Mary)  as  my  advocate,  I  have  nothing  to 
fear."  Are  not  these  teachings  contrary  to  and  clearly 
subversive  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Bible  Chris- 
tianity in  regard  to  the  atonement — confessedly  one  of 
the  cardinal  doctrines  of  religion? 

Such,  then,  is  Romanism  in  Brazil.  It  is  a  system 
pagan  in  form,  largely  pagan  in  spirit,  and  whose  doc- 
trines are  subversive  of  many  of  the  most  fundamental 
and  most  precious  teachings  of  the  religion  of  Christ. 
Should  such  a  system  be  considered  a  true  branch  of 
the  Church  of  Christ?    Nay,  verily. 

Now,  lest  those  who  do  not  know  Romanism  inti- 
mately should  think  that  what  has  been  said  is  a  greatly 
exaggerated  statement  made  by  one  who,  in  the  very 
nature  of  the  case,  would  have  a  distorted  and  unchari- 
table view  of  the  matter,  let  Snr.  Barbosa  be  heard  again, 
and  be  it  remembered  again,  that  he  is  neither  a  mission- 
ary nor  a  Protestant.  In  regard  to  what  has  been  accom- 
plished, what  the  instrumentality,  and  where  the  real 
responsibility  for  the  change  should  rest,  he  says :  "All 
the  impious  invocations  with  which  the  'curia'  has  pagan- 
ized Catholicism,  from  the  materialistic  worship  of  the 
'Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus'  to  the  devotion  rendered  to  the 
'Sacred  Heart  of  Mary' — all  this  superstitious  mysticism 
by  which  mariolatry  and  the  worship  of  images  has  been 


102        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

propagated  to  the  detriment  of  the  spiritual  worship  of 
God,  all  of  this  is  the  work  of  the  Jesuits;  but  in  it  all, 
the  Jesuits  have  been  nothing  more  than  the  active  agents 
of  the  papal  sovereignty."     (Page  29.) 

As  to  the  means  employed  to  accomplish  this  sad  trans- 
formation, our  author  informs  us  that  ''All  the  hidden 
attractions  of  music,  of  lights,  of  pyrotechnics,  of  mili- 
tary pomp,  all  the  refinements  of  luxury,  all  the  seduc- 
tions that  captivate  the  senses,  are  combined,  refined,  and 
made  cheap,  in  order  to  convert  religion,  which  ought 
to  be  a  spontaneous  and  immaterial  homage  of  the  heart 
to  God,  into  an  endless  feast,  noisy,  intoxicating,  and 
utterly  incompatible  with  the  hidden  and  silent  commu- 
nion of  the  soul  with  the  Creator."     (Page  169.) 

As  to  the  results  finally  and  definitely  produced  he  in- 
forms us  as  follows:  "Essentially  altered  in  its  morals 
and  in  its  faith  by  the  corrupting  assimilation  of  the 
sensualistic  principle  which  is,  always  has  been,  and 
always  will  be  the  ruin  of  all  religions  that  are  not  con- 
tent with  authority  over  the  conscience,  Christianity,  in 
becoming  Romanized,  was  transformed  into  a  deleterious 
element,  which  in  its  fermentation  wastes  and  decom- 
poses society."  And  once  more :  "All  that  in  Catholicism 
was  pure,  divine,  and  truly  sublime,  everything  that 
tended  to  establish  between  God  and  man  that  intimate 
communion  which  is  the  essence  of  Christian  worship, 
was  obliterated  or  proscribed.  What  remains  is  a  symbol 
without  soul  and  without  truth,  food  for  the  superstitious 
credulity  of  the  ignorant,  and  a  cloak  for  the  feigned  and 
calculating  skepticism  of  the  educated  minority."  (Pages 
167  and  168.)  Is  there  a  single  charge  in  the  indictment 
against  Romanism  in  the  preceding  pages  that  is  not 
abundantly  confirmed  in  these  eloquent  passages   from 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        103 

Snr.  Barbosa's  pen?  In  the  statements  that  Rome  has 
paganized  Christianity;  that  the  forms  are  pagan;  that 
the  spirit  and  the  doctrines  of  Rome  are  subversive  of 
the  fundamental  tenets  of  the  Christian  faith,  this  able 
Brazilian  writer  fully  concurs. 

What  has  been  said  on  the  question  of  the  essentially 
pagan  character  of  the  ceremonies  and  the  spirit  and  doc- 
trines of  Romanism  has  been  rather  abstract  in  character. 
Did  space  allow,  concrete  examples  of  these  pagan  forms, 
of  the  influence  of  this  paganizing  spirit,  and  of  the  re- 
sults of  this  subverting  of  Christian  doctrines  could  be 
given  without  number.  The  very  best  proof  possible  of 
the  essentially  pagan  character  of  modern  Roman  Catho- 
licism is  the  witnessing  of  the  processions  of  Holy  Week, 
or  those  in  honor  of  Mary,  celebrated  the  last  of  May, 
the  month  especially  devoted  to  the  worship  of  the  Virgin. 
Mr.  Brown,  in  ''Latin  America,"  page  104  ct  seq,  quotes 
from  another  book,  "Brazil  and  the  Brazilians,"  some 
amusing  incidents,  also  a  very  striking  account  of  a  pro- 
cession in  Brazil.  This  and  other  similar  passages  will 
well  repay  the  purchase  and  the  reading  of  the  book. 

A  few  samples  of  the  devotional  reading  prepared  for 
the  people  of  Brazil,  or  a  few  specimens  of  the  pulpit 
ministrations  of  the  most  popular  pulpit  orators  of  Romish 
lands,  would  help  to  the  clearer  understanding  of  the 
religious  conditions  of  papal  peoples  and  of  the  causes 
responsible  therefor.  The  story  is  told  in  some  one  of 
the  numerous  booklets  celebrating  the  glories  of  St. 
Joseph  as  advocate,  of  a  serious  altercation  between  St. 
Joseph  and  St.  Peter,  that  almost  resulted  in  a  great 
revolution  in  heaven.  St.  Peter  had  refused  to  admit  one 
of  St.  Joseph's  ardent  devotees,  on  the  ground  that  he 
was  too  wicked  to  enter  the  celestial  world.     This  alter- 


104        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

cation  became  so  serious  that  St.  Joseph  was  about  to 
leave  heaven  with  his  worshipers.  Mary,  as  a  loyal  wife, 
thought  she  ought  to  go  with  her  husband,  and  she  and 
her  worshipers  prepared  to  leave  too.  Then  Jesus,  as  a 
loving  son,  thought  he  wanted  to  be  where  his  Mother 
was,  so  was  calling  together  his  worshipers  to  join  the 
exodus.  It  appeared  that  the  celestial  world  was  about 
to  become  depopulated,  and  Peter  was  forced  to  terms. 
Moral:  St.  Joseph  is  the  most  powerful  of  advocates 
for  the  wicked. 

Padre  Antonio  Vieira  was  perhaps  the  most  famous 
of  the  pulpit  orators  of  Portugal.  He  spent  part  of  his 
life  in  Brazil,  so  his  sermons  are  read  as  great  models 
of  sacred  eloquence  in  both  countries.  In  1644,  he 
preached  a  sermon  in  Lisbon  on  the  glories  of  St.  Thereza 
which  has  some  of  the  most  remarkable  specimens  of 
pulpit  ministrations  to  be  found  in  all  literature.  The 
speaker  mentions  a  number  of  favors  shown  by  Christ 
to  Thereza.  The  first  was  his  marriage  to  her  in  the 
presence  and  with  the  approval  of  Joseph  and  Mary.  This 
marriage  seems  to  have  been  celebrated  in  heaven.  The 
second  favor  was  his  love  for  her  so  great  as  to  lead 
him  to  say  that  had  he  not  created  the  heavens  for  other 
reasons,  he  would  have  done  so  for  love  of  her  alone. 
The  preacher  tells  his  audience  that  Thereza's  love,  in 
Christ's  estimation,  outweighed  all  else  besides;  and  the 
third  favor  shown  her  was  Jesus'  undertaking  to  allay 
her  jealousy  of  Mary  Magdalene  by  assuring  her  that  his 
love  for  Magdalene  was  an  earthly  love,  but  that  his  love 
for  her  (Thereza)  was  the  love  in  heaven.  Without 
doubt,  this  will  match  anything  in  all  literature  for  its 
material  conception  of  heaven — rmore  like  Mohammedan- 
ism than  Christianity, — and  for  the  curdling  impiety  and 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        105 

blasphemy  of  it.  What  wonder  that  the  gentleman,  who 
called  the  writer's  attention  to  the  passage  and  kindly 
translated  it  into  English,  should  have  felt  his  hair  rise 
on  end  when  he  first  met  with  it,  and  saw  the  length  to 
which  the  preacher  had  gone  in  his  sensuous  and  mate- 
rialistic blasphemy?  Can  such  preaching  of  such  a  faith 
sanctify  human  lives  and  save  the  souls  of  sinful  men? 

Brazil  does  need  the  influence  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ;  and  with  the  best  spirits  among  them,  it  is  a 
conscious  need.  The  intelligent,  well  informed  Brazilian 
does  not  resent  the  work  of  Evangelical  Missions  as  im- 
pertinent or  presumptuous  interference.  He  welcomes 
the  work  and  the  worker,  recognizing  that  it  means  a  new 
and  wholesome  influence  in  his  country.  The  attitude 
of  hundreds  of  individuals  shows  that  this  is  the  state 
of  mind  of  the  best  people ;  the  expressions  of  opinion  in 
the  secular  press  are  constantly  revealing  this  attitude; 
and  the  most  cogent  and  eloquent  proof  of  this  is  to  be 
found  in  the  large  and  growing  Evangelical  Churches 
that  are  being  rapidly  formed  in  the  bosom  of  Brazilian 
society. 

Brazil  needs  a  great  force  or  influence  for  her  regen- 
eration. Romanism  cannot  supply  that  needed  force  for 
moral  regeneration ;  nay,  Rome  is  powerless  to  reform 
herself.  The  land  calls  for  the  influence  of  Evangelical 
Christianity  to  make  it  commercially,  politically  and  mor- 
ally great.  The  people  of  the  land  call  for  the  influence 
of  Evangelical  Christianity  to  teach  them  the  true  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel;  to  lead  them  unto  Him  who  is  the 
Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life ;  to  guide  them  to  rest  and 
blessedness  in  the  Father's  house.  The  remaining  chap- 
ters of  this  book  will  tell  what  has  been  done,  what  is 
being  done,  and  what  should  yet  be  done  toward  answer- 
ing this  call  from  the  land  and  from  the  people  of  Brazil. 


io6        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   EVANGELICAL   INVASION   OF   BRAZIL:     THE   FORCES    IN 
ACTION. 

To  tell  the  story  of  the  Evangelical  Faith  in  Brazil, 
one  must  begin  long  before  the  rise  of  the  modern  Foreign 
Missionary  Movement.  The  first  effort  to  win  this  fair 
land  for  Christ  had  its  origin  in  sunny  France,  and  the 
movement  was  born,  in  part,  of  persecution. 

Nicholas  Durand  de  Villegagnon  had  sailed  the  South 
Atlantic,  knew  the  coast  of  South  America,  and  was  con- 
vinced that  a  great  future  was  in  store  for  this  land  under 
the  Southern  Cross.  Political  and  commercial  considera- 
tions entered  into  the  enterprise:  he  longed  to  take  and 
hold  the  land  for  France ;  but  among  the  weightiest  con- 
siderations in  the  founding  and  peopling  of  the  colony 
known  as  Antartic  France,  was  that  suggested  by  Ville- 
gagnon to  Coligny, — namely,  the  founding  of  an  asylum 
in  the  western  world  for  the  persecuted  Huguenots  of 
France.  Coligny,  the  great  Huguenot  admiral,  was  the 
friend  and  trusted  counsellor  of  King  Henry  II. ;  he  took 
to  the  idea,  and  readily  secured  from  the  monarch  the 
vessels  needed  for  the  expedition.  Sailing  from  Havre 
in  1555,  the  colonists  landed  on  an  island  in  the  bay  of 
Rio,  in  November  of  the  same  year,  A  year  or  two  later, 
a  second  expedition  under  Villegagnon's  nephew,  Bois-le- 
Comte,  comprising  three  hundred  French  Calvinists, 
reinforced  the  colony.  With  this  second  expedition  came 
two  or  more  ministers,  and  a  group  of  theological  stu- 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        107 

dents  fresh  from  Geneva.  What  an  interesting  picture, 
to  think  of  Calvin  and  Collgny  planning  together  to  found 
a  centre  of  Evangelical  Influence  In  the  new  world ! 

This   colonial   venture   that   promised   so   much    for 
France,  for  South  America,  and  for  the  Protestant  cause, 
came  to  naught,  principally  because  of  the  treachery  of 
Vlllegagnon.    He  betrayed  the  Evangelical  cause,  perse- 
cuted the  Huguenots,  compelling  some  of  them  to  return 
to  France  and  forcing  others  to  flee  from  the  colony  and 
seek  refuge  among  the  Indians.    His  treachery  earned  for 
him  the  title  of  ''the  Cain  of  America."    Later  on,  Vllle- 
gagnon himself  abandoned  the  colony,  and  later  still,  the 
Portuguese  forces  drove  the  French  from  the  island  and 
from  the  neighboring  coasts.     Thus   the   enterprise  of 
Antarctic  France  came  to  an  inglorious  end.     When  one 
remembers  what  the  influence  of  Calvinism  has  been  in 
fostering  religious  and  civil  freedom  among  men;  when 
it  Is  remembered  how  these  French  Huguenots,  after  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  1685,  enriched  the 
blood  and  brain  and  increased  the  wealth  of  England, 
Holland,  and  Germany;  when  it  is  remembered  what  a 
precious  heritage  they  brought  to  North  America,  and 
how  they  enriched  the  character  of  the  American  people ; 
when  all  this  is  recalled,  one  cannot  check  fancy  as  It 
pictures  what  French  Influence  might  have  been  in  the 
Western  Hemisphere;  what  Brazil  might  have  become 
under  the  Influence  of  that  wonderful  people— the  Hugue- 
nots— and  what  the  influence  of  the  Evangelical  Faith 
might  have  been  on  South  America,  and,  by  reaction,  on 
France  itself,  had  Vlllegagnon  remained  true  to  his  prin- 
ciples, and  had  the  French  kings  strengthened  their  hold 
on  Brazil  by  strengthening  the  Huguenots  in  Antartic 
France.     Southey,  the  EngHsh  historian  of  Brazil,  truly 


io8        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

and  wisely  says:  ''Never  was  a  war  in  which  so  little 
exertion  had  been  made,  and  so  little  force  employed  on 
either  side,  attended  by  consequences  so  important."  The 
Portuguese  defeated  the  French;  the  Huguenots  were 
driven  out ;  and  Brazil  was  in  the  hands  of  Rome. 

II.  French  Calvinists  had  not  taken  Brazil :  the  next 
invasion  was  by  the  Calvinists  of  Holland.  The  Dutch 
colony  in  North  Brazil  was  not  primarily  a  religious  en- 
terprise ;  neither  was  the  religious  motive  wholly  lacking, 
in  profession,  at  any  rate.  The  Dutch  West  India  Com- 
pany mentioned  as  one  of  its  motives  for  invading  Brazil 
with  its  colonists,  that  thus  "a  pure  religion  might  be 
introduced  into  America."  This  religious  element  in 
the  enterprise  was  not  entirely  neglected  in  fact.  There 
were  some  missionaries  who  labored  among  the  negroes 
and  especially  among  the  Indians  with  true  apostolic  zeal, 
teaching  the  barbarous  peoples  the  true  doctrines  of  the 
gospel,  and  instructing  them  also  in  the  industrial  and 
agricultural  arts.  They  learned  "Guarany,"  the  language 
of  the  Indians,  and  prepared  catechetical  books  for  the 
instruction  of  the  savages  whom  they  sought  to  civilize 
and  Christianize.  As  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  under 
the  wise  and  sitatesman-like  leadership  of  Maurice  of 
Nassau,  the  author  of  the  famous  decree  of  religious 
liberty,  the  colony  flourished;  and  it  appeared,  at  one 
time,  that  all  Brazil  would  come  under  the  influence  of 
the  Dutch.  Had  this  advantage  been  pressed,  the  fate 
of  the  battles  of  the  "Guararapes"  would  have  been  other, 
and  there  might  have  been  in  South  America,  as  in  North 
America,  a  great  Protestant  power,  having  in  its  blood 
the  iron  of  the  Pauline  Calvinistic  doctrines,  along  with 
the  thrift,  thoroughness,  and  tenacity  of  purpose  that 
have  always  characterized  the  Dutch  people.    It  may  be 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        109 

that  the  rocks  and  fogs  and  barrenness  of  Holland  were 
better  suited  to  develop  what  was  best  in  this  sturdy  Teu- 
ton stock,  but  one  cannot  help  wishing  that  it  might  have 
had  a  chance  to  show  what  it  would  have  been,  under  the 
more  genial  tropical  skies  of  Brazil,  as  well  as  in  gray 
little  Holland. 

But  history  was  not  to  be  written  so.  Political  inter- 
ests turned  Holland's  attention  elsewhere;  Maurice  of 
Nassau,  seeing  that  his  policies  could  not  be  carried  out, 
withdrew;  and  the  hope  of  the  Dutch  colony  and  of 
Evangelical  Religion  went  with  him.  The  Dutch  influ- 
ence waned,  the  battles  of  the  ''Guararapes"  went  against 
the  Dutch,  and  soon  they  withdrew  from  Brazil.  Thus 
was  the  land  left  to  the  undisputed  sway  of  papal  Rome 
for  two  centuries. 

in.  In  our  history  of  the  Evangelical  Invasion  of 
Brazil,  we  come  now  to  the  period  of  Modern  Missions. 
During  these  two  long  centuries  of  papal  rule  in  Brazil 
the  Church  of  Christ  had  heard  her  Lord's  voice,  and 
had  gotten  a  vision  of  her  high  calling;  she  was  beginning 
to  march  forth  to  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  her 
Master. 

I.  The  first  attempt  to  found  Evangelical  Missions 
in  Brazil  in  this  modern  era  was  only  a  tentative  one. 
It  came,  not  as  the  first  two,  from  the  Calvinists,  but 
from  the  disciples  of  Wesley.  In  1835,  as  a  result  of  a 
visit  of  investigation  and"  inquiry  made  by  the  Rev.  Foun- 
tain E.  Pitts,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  sent  to 
Brazil  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spaulding,  who  was  joined  the  fol- 
lowing year  by  the  Rev.  D.  P.  Kidder.  The  author  of 
'Tatin  America"  quotes  "The  Brazilian  Bulletin"  as  say- 
ing that  Mr.  Kidder  returned  to  the  States  in  1840;  but 
the  Rev.  H.  C.  Tucker,  in  "Protestant  Missions  in  South 


no        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

America,"  gives  the  date  of  Mr.  Kidder's  return  as  1842. 
They  are  agreed  in  saying  the  worlc  was  abandoned  in 
1842.  It  appears  that  Mr.  Spaulding  preceded  Mr.  Kid- 
der in  his  return  to  North  America. 

The  v^ork  done  by  Mr.  Kidder  was  principally  one 
of  Bible  distribution.  In  the  interesting  book,  ''Brazil  and 
the  Brazilians,"  among  other  valuable  things,  one  will 
find  interesting  accounts  of  Mr.  Kidder's  experiences  in 
scattering  the  Word.  At  times  the  mission  house  was 
thronged  with  persons  who  had  come  to  get  the  precious 
treasure.  Old  men  and  women  mingled  with  the  chil- 
dren; the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  high  and  the  low,  the 
wise  and  the  ignorant,  jostled  each  other  in  their  efforts 
to  secure  the  Word  of  life;  and  the  priest  and  the  min- 
ister of  state  were  seen  or  represented  in  the  throng. 
Such  a  state  of  things  could  not  long  go  unchallenged, 
and  soon  Mr.  Kidder  and  his  work  were  attacked  by  the 
hierarchy,  who  saw  their  craft  in  danger.  Mr.  Kidder's 
withdrawal  from  Brazil  put  an  end  to  this  effort,  and 
fifteen  years  passed  before  another  was  made. 

2.  The  first  permanent  missionary  work  opened  in 
Brazil,  the  first  among  those  agencies  that  are  to  be 
counted  among  the  forces  in  action  at  the  present  time, 
came,  as  has  been  the  case  with  so  many  good  and  lasting 
influences,  from  Scotland.  This  work  was  opened  by 
Dr.  Robert  Reid  Kalley,  a  Scotch  physician ;  and  few 
members  of  his  profession  have  shown  so  much  of  the 
spirit  of  the  Great  Physician  who  came  that  men  might 
have  life  and  health  and  have  them  more  abundantly, 
as  did  Dr.  Kalley. 

His  first  missionary  enterprise  was  on  the  Island  of 
Madeira,  where  he  began  a  notable  work,  and  gathered 
quite  a  congregation.    When  severe  persecution  arose  and 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        hi 

his  flock  had  been  scattered,  Dr.  Kalley  himself  moved 
to  Brazil.  He  found  in  Rio  a  number  of  his  old  par- 
ishioners of  Medeira,  and  the  spirit  of  the  Master  stirred 
him  to  effort  again.  The  generous  reception  accorded 
him,  and  the  liberal  spirit  so  characteristic  of  the  Bra- 
zilian government  and  of  the  people  generally,  made  it 
easy  to  open  mission  work  in  the  beautiful  capital.  Dr. 
Kalley's  coming  to  Brazil  in  1855  marks  the  beginning 
of  persistent  and  continuous  effort  to  win  the  land. 
From  that  time  to  the  present,  the  work  has  increased 
slowly,  steadily,  surely — in  volume,  force,  and  intensity. 

Dr.  Kalley  was  a  Presbyterian  in  doctrine,  but  he 
gave  to  the  church  that  grew  up  as  the  result  of  his 
labors,  a  congregational  form  of  government.  He  mas- 
tered the  Portuguese  tongue  as  few  foreigners  have 
done.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Kalley  possessed  poetic  talent 
of  no  mean  order,  and  the  hymns  composed  by  them  and 
set  to  music  by  Mrs.  Kalley  continue  to  be  the  most  popu- 
lar and  the  most  widely-used  hymns  of  the  Brazilian 
church.  Dr.  Kalley  continued  his  splendid  work  for 
twenty-one  years.  In  1876,  the  infirmities  of  advancing 
age  caused  him  to  return  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  fell 
asleep  twelve  years  later.  After  his  death,  a  voluntary 
and  undenominational  Missionary  Society,  known  as 
"Help  for  Brazil,"  was  organized,  and  continues  to  the 
present  to  sustain  several  valuable  workers  in  the  field. 
The  work  they  have  done  is  not  wide  in  extent,  but  is 
of  high  quality;  a  small  but  goodly  company  they  are. 
Dr.  Kalley  was  a  man  of  means,  and  all  the  work  he  did 
was  done  at  his  own  charges. 

3.  The  next  detachment  of  the  Evangelical  army  to 
land  on  Brazilian  shores  came  from  the  United  States, 
and  was  Presbyterian.    It  was  in  1859,  before  the  ques- 


112        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

tions  incident  to  the  Civil  War  had  divided  the  Presby- 
terian family,  that  the  Rev.  A.  G.  Simonton  landed  in 
Rio,  in  the  month  of  August.  Few  important  movements 
have  had  more  capable  or  worthy  leaders  than  had  the 
Presbyterian  Missionary  work  in  Brazil.  Mr.  Simonton 
is  spoken  of  by  those  who  knew  him  personally  as  a  man 
of  rare  gifts,  both  of  heart  and  mind;  of  attractive  per- 
sonality, of  unusual  intellectual  endowment,  and  of  deep 
spirituality  withal.  In  1861,  a  regular  preaching  hall 
was  opened,  and  in  the  following  year,  a  Presbyterian 
church  was  organized.  Within  a  few  years,  the  force 
was  increased  by  the  arrival  of  the  Rev.  A.  L.  Blackford 
and  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Chamberlain.  In  1865,  these  mis- 
sionaries were  organized  into  the  Presbytery  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  a  Constitutional  Ecclesiastical  Republic  in  the 
heart  of  the  Brazilian  Empire.  The  propaganda  spread 
rapidly,  and  soon  Sao  Paulo  rather  than  Rio  had  become 
the  centre  of  the  Evangelical  movement. 

4.  Ten  years  after  Mr.  Simonton's  arriyal,  when  war 
had  divided  the  Presbyterians  of  the  States,  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church  also  began  to  labor  in  Brazil.  Of 
the  two  men  who  landed  in  1869,  one,  the  Rev.  Edward 
Lane,  lived  and  labored  for  many  years,  and  was  one  of 
the  best  known  and  best  loved  of  the  men  who  have 
given  their  lives  to  the  cause.  These  representatives  of 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  established  the  centre 
of  their  missionary  operations  at  Campinas,  a  prosperous 
city  of  the  state  of  Sao  Paulo.  From  their  centres  in  the 
south  central  section  of  the  country,  both  of  these  bands 
of  Presbyterians  extended  their  lines  of  missionary  work 
into  distant  parts  of  the  field.  Dr.  Blackford,  of  the 
Northern  Presbyterian  Mission,  established  himself  and 
opened  mission  work  in  Bahia,  the  second  city  in  popu- 


Rev.   a.   G.   SniONTON. 
Pioneer   Presbyterian   Missionary  in   Brazil. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        113 

lation,  and  the  old  capital  of  the  country.  The  Rev.  J. 
Rockwell  Smith  began  an  important  work  in  Pernambuco, 
the  most  important  of  the  northern  provinces  of  the 
Empire,  as  Sao  Paulo  v/as  the  most  progressive  of  the 
southern.  Dr.  Smith  is  the  only  one  of  the  earlier  group 
of  pioneers  who  still  remains,  and  whose  bow  still  abides 
in  strength. 

To  follow  these  missionary  forces  as  they  spread 
rapidly  along  the  semicircle  of  the  northern  coast-line; 
to  follow  them  as  they  push  their  advance  lines  to  the 
extreme  south  of  the  land ;  to  follow  them,  again,  as  with 
true  pioneer  spirit  and  zeal,  they  push  their  way  into 
the  very  heart  of  central  Brazil,  where  corner  the  three 
great  watersheds  of  the  continent ;  to  follow  them  in  all 
of  these  great  advance  movements  of  vast  spiritual  im- 
port, is  to  tell  a  thrilling  and  a  fascinating  story.  But  the 
story  can  be  told  here  only  in  the  most  meagre  outline. 

5.  The  Presbyterians  had  laid  hold  of  the  strategic 
points  of  the  field,  and  had  marked  out  the  great  lines  of 
advance,  when  the  next  detachment  of  the  invading 
forces  arrived.  These  came  from  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  South — zealous  and  militant  on  foreign  shores 
as  well  as  on  the  native  heath.  It  was  in  February,  1876, 
seventeen  years  after  the  opening  of  work  by  the  Pres- 
byterians, that  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Ransom  arrived  in  Rio  and 
set  up  again  the  Methodist  banner  that  had  been  with- 
drawn more  than  thirty  years  before.  A  few  months 
after  his  arrival,  Mr.  Ransom  opened  work  in  Rio;  but 
soon  thereafter,  the  centre  of  the  operations  was  changed 
to  the  state  of  Sao  Paulo.  The  Methodist  mission  was 
soon  reinforced,  and  the  work  was  pushed  vigorously, 
both  in  Rio  and  Sao  Paulo.  Some  ten  years  after  the 
opening  of  their  work,  the  Methodists  occupied  a  new 


114        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

field,  a  step  that  may  be  considered  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant advances  in  the  mission  work  in  Brazil.  Up 
to  this  time,  the  great  state  of  Minas  Geraes,  the  most 
populous  of  all  the  states,  and  one  of  the  most  wealthy 
and  conservative,  had  been  touched  by  the  mission  forces 
only  on  its  extreme  borders.  But  now  the  Methodists 
occupy  Juiz  de  Fora  and  other  points  on  the  main  line 
of  railroad  that  passes  through  the  very  heart  of  the 
great  pastoral,  agricultural  and  mineral  section  of  this 
empire  state.  This  field  has  become  the  most  important 
and  most  prosperous  of  all  the  fields  occupied  by  the 
Methodists  in  Brazil. 

6.  Five  years  after  the  Methodists,  in  1881,  came  the 
Southern  Baptists,  and  another  division  of  the  invading 
army  was  on  the  field.  The  first  representatives  of  the 
Southern  Baptist  Church  were  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  W.  B. 
Bagby.  They  began  work  in  the  state  of  Sao  Paulo,  but 
soon  changed  their  centre  of  operations  to  Rio  de  Janeiro. 
When  reinforcements  came,  work  was  opened  in  Bahia, 
and  later  was  reopened  in  the  state  of  Sao  Paulo.  The 
strongest  centre  of  the  Baptist  work  is  in  and  about  the 
city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  though  they  have  several  large 
congregations  in  the  state  of  Rio,  From  Rio,  their  work 
has  also  spread  to  the  north,  and  they  have  congregations 
in  many  of  the  coast  cities. 

The  most  important  move  of  the  Baptists,  however, 
would  seem  to  be  their  going  into  the  Amazon  Valley. 
There  is  a  great  field  for  missionary  work  there,  and  it 
has  been  the  only  large  and  increasingly  populous  terri- 
tory unoccupied.  The  vast  network  of  navigable  rivers 
opens  up  waterways  throughout  the  entire  valley,  and 
unquestionably  the  present  century  will,  before  its  close, 
see   a   wonderful   increase   of   population   in   that  great 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        115 

region.  It  is  well  to  recall  just  here  Agassiz's  prediction 
as  to  the  Amazon  Valley's  being  in  the  future  the  centre 
of  the  world's  civilization.  The  moisture-laden  tropical 
climate  is  not  salubrious  now,  but  the  conquests  of  science 
are  rapidly  destroying  all  the  enemies  to  man's  health 
that  lurk  in  the  malarious  lands  of  the  earth,  and  that  vast 
territory  in  the  valley  of  the  mighty  Amazon  will  one 
day  laugh  with  harvests  and  with  habitations  of  health 
and  prosperity.  The  Baptists  have  shown  great  wisdom 
and  foresight  in  planting  stations  in  that  region.  The 
Baptists  and  the  Presbyterians  are  the  only  forces  at  work 
in  the  Amazon  Valley. 

7.  Of  the  great  Mission  Boards  carrying  on  mission 
work  in  Brazil,  the  last  to  enter  the  field  was  the  Protcs- 
ant  Episcopal  Church  of  North  America.  In  1889,  two 
young  men,  just  from  the  Episcopal  Seminary  at  Alex- 
andria, Virginia,  the  Rev.  L.  L.  Kinsolving  and  the  Rev. 
W.  Morris,  came  to  Brazil  as  the  pioneers  of  the  mission- 
ary work  of  their  church.  Some  months  were  spent  in 
the  study  of  the  language  and  in  looking  over  the  field 
with  a  view  to  selecting  a  territory  for  their  labors; 
they  wished  to  enter  unoccupied  regions,  that  they  might 
not  build  on  another  man's  foundation.  Just  at  that  time 
the  mission  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Church  was 
unable  to  man  its  work  in  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  the  extreme 
southern  state  of  the  Repiiblic,  and  it  was  agreed  that 
the  Presbyterians  would  turn  over  the  beginnings  of  their 
work  in  Rio  Grande  to  the  Episcopalians,  who,  in  view 
of  this,  decided  to  establish  themselves  in  that  important 
and  rapidly  developing  state.  In  this  arrangement,  we 
have  a  very  practical  illustration  of  mission  comity  and  of 
the  essential  oneness  in  spirit  of  the  Protestant  churches, 
a  manifestation  of  a  spirit  that  might,   in  many  other 


ii6        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

fields,  be  imitated  greatly  to  the  advancement  of  the 
higher  interests  of  the  work. 

This  latest  addition  to  the  forces  of  the  Evangelical 
hosts  has,  during  these  twenty  years,  developed  a  large 
activity.  The  Episcopal  work  has  been  confined  to  Rio 
Grande  do  Sul  until  quite  recently,  when  a  mission  sta- 
tion was  opened  also  in  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

8.  There  are  several  smaller  and  independent  mis- 
sionary enterprises  that  are  being  conducted  in  Brazil, 
some  of  them  doing  very  excellent  work.  Chief  among 
them  should  be  placed  the  South  American  Evangelical 
Mission.  This  movement  was  born  of  prayer  in  the 
city  of  Toronto,  in  1895,  and  four  years  later,  the  head- 
quarters were  moved  to  Liverpool.  The  first  years  were 
spent  largely  in  investigating  conditions  in  South  America 
with  a  view  to  selecting  centres.  At  first  the  work  done 
was  of  intermittent  character.  From  1898  to  1902,  some 
work  was  done  among  the  Indians  in  the  Tocantins  val- 
ley, in  Goyaz.  The  workers  there  was  Mr.  Witte  and 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Graham,  but  the  enterprise  had  to  be 
abandoned.  The  work  of  this  Society  in  Brazil  took  more 
definite  and  organized  shape  when  Mr.  B.  W.  Ranken 
arrived  in  1905,  opened  work  in  Sao  Paulo,  and  began 
to  act  as  the  bond  of  union  between  the  widely  scattered 
workers  on  the  field,  and  as  the  medium  of  communication 
between  the  workers  and  the  home  Society. 

The  centre  of  this  mission's  operations  may  be  said 
to  be  Sao  Paulo,  and  from  there,  workers  have  been 
sent  into  the  states  of  Sao  Paulo  and  Minas,  into  the 
centre  of  Goyaz  and  even  into  distant  Matto  Grosso. 
Many  of  these  laborers  have  shown  remarkable  zeal  in 
prosecuting  their  work.  Some  of  them  are  self-support- 
ing, working  part  of  their  time  to  earn  their  living,  and 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        117 

giving  the  rest  of  it  to  the  mission  service.  They  do  not 
undertake  to  organize  churches  of  a  new  denomination, 
but  labor  in  connection  with  other  churches.  If  their  con- 
gregations are  in  territory  occupied  by  Presbyterians,  or 
nearer  to  the  Presbyterians,  the  affiliate  with  the  Pres- 
byterians. If  nearer  to  some  other  Evangelical  com- 
munion, the  congregations  go  to  that  organization. 

Another  independent  and  self-supporting  work,  car- 
ried on  for  a  number  of  years  under  great  difficulties  and 
with  great  devotion,  is  the  work  of  the  Rev.  Justus  H. 
Nelson,  of  the  Northern  Methodist  Church.  His  labors 
have  been  confined  largely  to  the  city  of  Para,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Amazon;  and  had  Mr.  Nelson  been  sup- 
ported by  some  Mission  Board,  a  vast  work  might  have 
grown  up  from  that  centre.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nelson  en- 
dured hardship  as  good  soldiers  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  de- 
serve warmest  praise  for  their  earnest  efforts  in  behalf 
of  Brazil's  redemption.  At  one  time  Mr.  Nelson  was 
imprisoned  for  several  months  on  an  unjust  charge,  based 
on  certain  articles  assailing  Romanism  that  he  had  pub- 
lished in  his  weekly  paper. 

9.  Among  the  interdenominational  forces  at  work  in 
the  great  Evangelical  campaign  in  Brazil,  a  prominent 
place  must  be  given  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation. The  work  was  undertaken  nineteen  years  ago. 
Mr.  Myron  A.  Clark  was  the  first  representative  of  the 
American  Association.  After  carefully  studying  con- 
ditions in  Brazil,  he  decided  to  begin  his  important  work 
in  the  nation's  capital,  and  as  a  result  of  that  decision, 
there  is  a  flourishing  Association  in  Rio,  occupying  a 
handsome  building  in  the  business  centre  of  the  city,  a 
building  that  has  been  entirely  paid  for.  The  Associa- 
tion's work  was  well  received  from  the  first.    The  Evan- 


ii8        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

gelical  workers,  both  foreign  and  native,  welcomed  it  as 
a  valuable  addition  to  their  forces ;  and  the  business  men, 
foreign  and  native,  were  interested  in  its  prosperity. 
Men  prominent  in  the  nation's  social  and  political  life 
have  given  clear  evidence  of  their  appreciation  of  the 
aims  and  methods  of  the  movement.  Associations  have 
been  organized  in  other  larger  cities,  as  Sao  Paulo,  and 
in  several  large  coast  towns  tentative  beginnings  have 
been  made.  The  interest  in  this  work  reached  high-tide 
several  years  ago,  when  the  National  Convention  met 
in  Sao  Paulo,  and  had  the  rare  privilege  of  a  visit  from 
Mr.  John  R.  Mott.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion doubtless  has  a  great  mission  in  Brazil. 

10.  In  this  rapid  review  of  the  forces  in  action  in 
Brazil,  very  honorable  mention  must  be  made  of  those 
most  valuable  auxiliaries  to  Evangelical  missions  the 
world  over,  namely,  the  Bible  Societies.  These  mighty 
agencies  in  the  world's  evangelization  are  doing  a  work, 
without  which  the  efficiency  of  the  missionary  organiza- 
tions would  be  greatly  reduced.  Into  hundreds  of  places 
where  the  ordained  evangelist  has  never  gone,  these  socie- 
ties send  their  godly  colporteurs  bearing  the  Word  of 
life — the  real  pioneers  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  the  ad- 
vance guard  of  the  Evangelical  army  in  the  peaceful  con- 
quest of  the  world  for  Christ.  When  the  missionary 
enters  a  new  field,  he  often  finds  a  man  or  a  group  of 
men  reading  God's  Word,  and  learning  for  themselves 
the  way  of  life.  And  when  he  finds  such  a  man  or  group 
of  men,  he  always  feels  that  there  is  solid  foundation 
for  personal  Christian  character,  and  a  firm  centre  around 
which  to  gather  a  Christian  community.  All  honor  to 
the  Bible  Societies  and  to  their  army  of  humble,  godly 
colporteurs ! 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        119 

Long  before  the  regular  organized  work  of  the  Mis- 
sion Boards  was  begun  in  Brazil,  the  American  and  Brit- 
ish and  Foreign  Bible  Societies  were  sending  consign- 
ments of  Bibles  to  business  firms  and  to  private  indi- 
viduals who  were  willing  to  aid  thus  in  the  advancement 
of  God's  Kingdom.  And  when  the  first  division  of  the 
invading  host  landed,  these  Societies  were  ready  to  place 
in  the  hands  of  the  soldiers  the  arms  of  conquest — the 
sword  of  the  Spirit.  The  American  Bible  Society  did  its 
first  organized  work  in  Brazil  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kidder 
was  in  the  country,'  1835-1842.  There  has  been  a  regular 
succession  of  these  representatives ;  and  the  present  genial 
and  active  agent,  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Tucker,  has  told  in  his 
book,  "The  Bible  in  Brazil,"  what  his  Society  is  doing. 
The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  also  established  a 
Brazilian  agency  at  an  early  day,  and  has  been  aggressive 
in  its  work.  At  present,  the  Rev.  Frank  Uttley  is  vig- 
orously pushing  the  work  into  every  part  of  Brazil's 
vast  territory. 

These  Societies  have  placed  millions  of  copies  of  the 
Word  of  life  in  the  hands  of  the  people;  but  this  is  not 
their  only  service.  They  have  greatly  aided  the  cause 
by  providing  improved  texts  of  the  Word.  New  editions 
of  the  old  versions  have  been  published,  with  marginal 
corrections  of  incorrect  renderings ;  and  for  several  years 
past  an  able  committee,  representing  the  two  Societies, 
has  been  at  work  on  a  new  version.  The  work  on  the 
New  Testament  is  about  completed. 

Such,  in  rapid  outline,  is  the  history  of  the  beginning 
of  the  conquest,  and  the  review  of  the  forces  in  action 
in  the  Brazilian  field.  The  great  campaign  was  wisely 
begun,  and  has  been,  in  the  main,  wisely  prosecuted.  The 
entering  wedge  was  driven  in  at  the  right  place.     The 


120        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

point  of  first  and  principal  attack  was  wisely  chosen.  It 
was  hardly  a  mere  chance,  or  the  conclusion  of  mere 
human  wishes  that  brought  the  first  missionaries  to  Rio 
and  Sao  Paulo.  The  guiding  hand  of  Him  who  said: 
'To,  I  am  with  you  alway"  was  leading  his  servants. 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  the  nation's  capital,  and  Sao  Paulo,  whose 
people  are  rightly  called  "the  Yankees  of  Brazil,"  where 
is  found  the  centre  of  the  commercial,  agricultural,  and 
industrial  development  of  the  country,  were  unquestion- 
ably the  most  suitable  places  for  the  beginnings  of  the 
work.  In  no  other  places  would  the  people  be  so  liber- 
ally inclined,  so  ready  to  hear  the  message ;  from  no  other 
centres  would  the  influence  of  success  achieved  be  felt 
so  promptly  or  so  potently.  The  succeeding  moves  in 
the  campaign  were  made  with  equal  wisdom,  and  doubt- 
less with  the  same  divine  guidance.  Bahia  and  Pernam- 
buco  were  pre-eminently  the  points  to  seize  and  to  hold 
in  the  development  of  the  work  in  the  North ;  and  the 
extension  of  the  work  into  the  South  and  into  the  interior 
were  moves  of  great  wisdom  and  of  far-reaching  results. 
Another  piece  of  wise  policy  has  characterized  the 
missionary  work  in  Brazil.  In  many  instances,  mission- 
ary workers  seem  inclined  to  confine  their  labors  to  the 
great  cities,  and  to  follow  closely  the  coast,  or  the  lines 
of  railroad.  The  example  of  the  Apostle  Paul  is  often 
cited  as  proof  that  such  should  be  the  method  in  mission 
work.  It  is  stated  with  a  tone  of  finality  that  the  great 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles  always  spent  his  energies  in  the 
great  centres  of  population,  making  his  voice  heard  in 
the  commercial  marts  of  the  world.  It  has  been  perti- 
nently remarked  in  answer  to  this  argument,  that  Paul 
doubtless  spent  his  energies  where  he  found  the  people 
most  ready  to  hear  and  accept  his  message,  and  where 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        121 

he  saw  that  the  influence  of  his  work  would  be  greatest, 
and  that  modern  missionaries  would  do  well  to  follow 
his  principle  rather  than  copy  his  example. 

It  has  been  noticed  in  Brazil  that  the  largest  congre- 
gations often  grow  up  in  the  small  interior  villages,  or 
in  the  country  districts,  where  whole  communities  are 
some  times  brought  under  the  influence  of  the  gospel. 
From  the  very  first,  the  missionaries  in  the  state  of  Sao 
Paulo  made  long  journeys  into  the  interior  sections  of 
the  state,  and  gave  much  time  and  energy  to  building 
up  country  congregations.  A  very  notable  instance  of 
the  policy  now  being  considered  was  the  move  made  by 
the  Rev.  John  Boyle  who  left  the  railroad  several  hundred 
miles  behind,  and  settled  in  the  small  town  of  Bagagen, 
a  town  commercially  dead.  His  move  was  thought  by 
many  to  be  a  mistake ;  but  from  that  insignificant  country 
town,  he  made  his  influence  felt,  by  means  of  missionary 
journeys  and  through  the  columns  of  his  religious  paper, 
The  Evangelist,  over  an  immense  region  of  country. 
Large  congregations  grew  up  in  the  field,  and  remarkable 
permanent  results  would  have  followed,  had  not  his 
career  been  cut  short  by  his  premature  death,  or  had 
there  been  workers  available  to  carry  forward  the  work 
so  well  begun.  He  did  not  seek  large  centres  of  popu- 
lation; but  thousands  heard  nim,  and  other  thousands 
came  under  the  influence  and  power  of  the  gospel  through 
his  editorial  labors.  He  did  not  copy  Paul's  example, 
he  followed  his  principles. 

The  Methodist  missionaries  exemplified  this  policy 
twenty  years  ago  when  they  left  the  beaten  paths  near 
the  coast  and  opened  up  a  new  field  in  the  centre  of  the 
great  state  of  Minas,  a  field  that  has  become  the  most 
prosperous  and  fruitful  of  all  their  districts.    The  South- 


122        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

ern  Presbyterians  furnished  another  example  fifteen  years 
ago,  when  they  left  the  old  mission  station  at  Campinas, 
and  moved  into  the  far  interior,  opening  up  an  entirely 
new  field,  far  from  the  great  centres.  Results  are  show- 
ing more  and  more  clearly  the  wisdom  of  the  change. 
The  same  tendency  has  been  seen  in  North  Brazil  for 
some  years.  The  missionaries  have  been  leaving  the 
great  centres  of  population  on  the  coast,  and  have  been 
pressing  the  work  in  the  rural  districts  of  the  interior; 
and  the  change  of  policy  has  brought  the  most  blessed 
results.  The  great  work  in  the  interior  of  the  state  of 
Pernambuco  is  the  fruit  of  this  change  of  policy.  A 
very  remarkable  instance  of  larger  results  following  a 
change  to  this  policy  is  to  be  seen  in  the  great  state  of 
Bahia.  For  many  years  it  was  considered  one  of  the 
most  barren  of  the  mission  fields,  but  since  the  work  began 
to  be  pressed  with  vigor  in  the  interior,  Bahia  has  be- 
come one  of  the  promising  and  fruitful  of  the  mission 
fields  of  Brazil.  So  striking  are  the  facts  here  noted  and 
others  that  might  easily  be  added,  that  a  very  active  mis- 
sionary worker  is  quoted  as  having  expressed  the  con- 
viction, some  few  years  ago,  that  Brazil  would  be  evan- 
gelized, nor  from  the  coast  to  the  interior,  but  from  the 
interior  toward  the  coast. 

The  history  of  the  Evangelical  movement  in  Brazil 
has  been  traced  from  the  beginning;  and  there  has  been 
a  rapid  review  of  the  forces  now  enlisted  in  winning  the 
land  for  Christ.  It  has  been  seen  that  the  two  great 
Bible  Societies  are  pioneering  the  land  and  opening  the 
way  for  the  mission  forces;  and  it  has  been  seen,  too, 
how  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  helping 
to  unify  the  work  of  the  churches  and  to  win  the  young 
men  of  the  country.     It  has  been  seen  that  a  number  of 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        123 
• 

smaller  and  independent  agencies  are  at  work,  and  five 

of  the  great  Mission  Boards  of  North  America  have  been 

found  enlisted  in  the  vast  enterprise. 


124        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  FRUITS  OF  VICTORY. 

"What  hath  God  wrought!" 

In  August  of  this  year  (1909)  it  will  be  fifty  years 
since  the  Rev.  A.  G.  Simonton  landed  in  Rio  to  begin 
missionary  work  under  the  direction  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church;  and  in  January  of  1910,  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Brazil  will  hold,  in  that 
same  city,  its  first  meeting,  in  celebration  of  the  semi- 
centennial of  Presbyterianism  in  the  Land  of  the  Southern 
Cross.  Could  Mr.  Simonton  and  Dr.  Kalley,  the  Scotch 
physician  who  preceded  him  by  four  years  in  beginning 
the  mission  work,  return  and  attend  this  meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly,  what  would  not  their  impressions  be? 
Great  as  have  been  the  changes  in  the  material  and  politi- 
cal conditions  of  the  beautiful  capital,  the  changes  that 
have  come  about  in  religious  conditions  are  greater  still. 
Where  fifty  years  ago,  they  gathered  together  a  handful 
of  hearers  here  and  there  in  private  houses,  vast  congre- 
gations, worshiping  in  splendid  churches  built  of  granite, 
would  now  greet  them.  Then,  they,  with  a  small  group 
of  Dr.  Kalley's  people  from  the  Portuguese  Islands,  were 
practically  the  only  representatives  of  Evangelical  Chris- 
tianity in  the  broad  Empire;  now  they  would  see  minis- 
ters and  elders  gathering  from  every  quarter,  represent- 
ing congregations  that  worship  God  in  almost  every  state 
of  the  great  Republic. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        125 

Whether  due  to  excessive  modesty  on  the  part  of  the 
workers  or  to  a  lack  of  time  to  tell  of  the  great  work 
doing  in  Brazil,  the  missionaries  themselves  have  never 
been  quite  able  to  decide;  but  whatever  the  reason,  the 
fact  remains  that  very  little  is  known  in  Evangelical  cir- 
cles of  North  America  and  Europe  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  work  of  Protestant  Missions  in  Brazil.  In  1901,  the 
field  was  visited  by  one  of  the  secretaries  representing 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church ;  and  he  expressed  him- 
self as  amazed  at  the  extent,  and  at  the  degree  of  develop- 
ment of  the  work.  In  1903,  the  distinguished  chairman 
of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions made  a  visit  to  the  field,  and  his  surprise  knew  no 
bounds.  He  had  not  dreamed  that  so  large  and  so  en- 
couraging a  development  of  church  life  was  to  be  found 
in  Brazil.  Secretary  Robert  E.  Speer  will  visit  us  dur- 
ing the  summer  months  of  this  year,  and,  notwithstanding 
his  remarkably  full  and  accurate  information  about  all 
matters  relating  to  Foreign  Missions,  his  visit  will  doubt- 
less bring  him  many  and  great  surprises. 

But  in  summing  up  the  fruits  of  victory  in  the  great 
Evangelical  campaign  in  Brazil,  let  us  go  a  little  more 
into  detail. 

The  Presbyterians.  In  1859,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Simon- 
ton  came  to  Brazil,  and  two  and  a  half  years  1  later, 
in  January,  1862,  the  first  Presbyterian  Church  was 
organized;  in  1863,  Sao  Paulo  was  occupied  as 
a  mission  station,  and  in  1865,  the  missionaries 
then  on  the  field  organized  themselves  into  a 
Presbytery.  The  coming  of  the  Southern  Presb}1:erian 
missionaries,  in  1869,  ^^'^^  the  enlargement  of  their  num- 
bers and  their  work  resulted  in  the  organization  of  a 
second  Presbytery.     Pernambuco  was  occupied  in  1873, 


126        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

and  from  that  centre,  the  work  spread  mto  the  neighbor- 
ing states.  Work  was  opened  in  Ceara  in  1882,  and 
shortly  thereafter,  Maranhao  was  occupied.  These  de- 
velopments in  the  North  soon  called  for  the  organization 
of  a  third  Presbytery.  In  1888,  with  the  consent  of  the 
two  mother  churches,  the  Presbyterian  missionaries  in 
Brazil,  together  with  the  native  ministers  they  had  or- 
dained, organized  themselves  into  an  independent 
ecclesiastical  body,  the  Presbyterian  Synod  of  Brazil. 
Since  beginning  its  independent  life,  the  Church  in  Brazil 
has  gone  forward  with  leaps  and  bounds.  Two  years 
ago,  it  was  decided  that,  for  greater  convenience  of  ad- 
ministration, it  would  be  advisable  to  divide  the  church 
into  two  Synods,  and  constitute  a  General  Assembly. 
As  already  stated,  the  General  Assembly  will  hold  its 
first  meeting  in  the  city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  in  January, 
1910,  to  celebrate  the  semi-centennial  of  the  birth  of  Pres- 
terianism  in  Brazil. 

The  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  proves  that 
it  believes  in  secession.  Not  wishing  this  sound  Presby- 
terian principle  to  fall  into  desuetude,  the  young  Church 
in  Brazil  has  already  had  one  division.  In  1903,  having 
failed  to  secure  in  the  Synod  the  adoption  of  certain 
measures  of  organization  and  method,  and  more 
especially  in  view  of  having  failed  to  secure  the  adoption 
of  a  resolution  condemning  Free  Masonry  as  incompati- 
ble with  the  Christian  life  and  profession,  a  group  of  min- 
isters and  elders  withdrew  from  the  Synod,  and  organized 
the  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  in  Brazil.  The 
Synod  refused  to  make  any  positive  deliverance  for  or 
against  Free  .Masonry  and  other  secret  societies,  pre- 
ferring to  leave  the  decision  of  the  question  to  every 
man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God.    Not  a  little  bitter- 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        127 

ness  and  strife  was  engendered  at  first,  but  time  has 
been  healing  the  wounds ;  and,  as  no  great  principle  was 
involved  in  the  cause  of  separation,  it  is  to  be  supposed 
that,  when  time's  healing  ministry  shall  have  been  further 
performed,  the  breach  will  be  closed,  and  the  Presbyterian 
hosts  will  again  march  with  united  front  to  the  conquest 
of  the  land  for  their  Lord  and  King.  It  was  sad  to 
see  division  come ;  and  yet  there  was  encouragement  in 
the  fact  that  men  were  willing  to  stand  for  what  they 
felt  to  be  a  principle,  and  were  ready  to  brave  difficulties 
and  to  bear  heart-aches  for  what  they  thought  to  be 
truth. 

Presbyterianism  has  greatly  prospered  in  Brazil;  it 
seems  to  find  a  congenial  soil  in  the  mind  and  heart  of 
the  Brazilian  people.  A  glance  at  the  accompanying  mis- 
sionary map  will  show  stations  all  the  way  from 
Amazonas  and  Para  in  the  north,  down  through  Pernam- 
buco,  Bahia,  Rio,  and  Sao  Paulo,  to  Parana  and  Santa 
Catharina  in  the  south.  Leaving  the  coast  for  the  interior, 
we  find  the  Presbyterian  banner  planted  in  the  great  in- 
land states  of  Minas  and  Goyaz.  In  eighteen  of  the 
twenty  states  of  Brazil,  we  find  Presbyterian  Mission 
work  in  a  more  or  less  fully  organized  form. 

The  Synod  of  the  Independent  Presbyterian  Church 
reports  three  Presbyteries,  fourteen  ordained  ministers, 
sixty-one  organized  churches  and  about  5,000  communi- 
cants. The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Brazil  is  composed  of  two  Synods,  seven  Presbyteries, 
fifty  ordained  ministers,  fifteen  of  them  being  mission- 
aries and  thirty-five  natives,  ninety  organized  churches, 
with  more  than  a  hundred  congregations,  and  about 
10,000  communicants.  Such,  then,  is  the  army  that 
marches  under  the  banner  of  blue.     Spreading  its  divi- 


128        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

sions  over  almost  all  of  Brazil,  having  established  itself 
in  the  great  centres  of  commercial,  political,  and  educa- 
tional influence,  commanding  the  respect  of  all  and  the 
admiration  of  many,  with  a  communion  roll  between  fif- 
teen and  twenty  thousand  strong,  and  a  ministry  of  edu- 
cated men  of  character,  Presbyterianism  is  a  vital  and 
energizing  influence  in  the  national  life.  It  already  makes 
its  influence  felt  and  itself  respected,  and  the  intelligent 
observer  will  notice  that  this  influence  increases  from 
year  to  year. 

The  Methodists.  The  Methodist  Conferences  in 
Brazil  form  integral  parts  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  of  the  United  States,  and  their  meetings 
are  presided  over,  generally,  by  a  member  of  the  college 
of  bishops  of  that  church.  It  was  in  1876,  thirty-three 
years  ago  that  the  first  representative  of  this  church 
landed  in  Brazil  and  began  work.  Following  in  the 
tracks  of  the  first  Presbyterians,  they  opened  up  fields 
of  operations  in  the  states  or  Rio  and  Sao  Paulo.  Their 
first  strong  centre  was  Piracicaba ;  and  this  town  in  the 
interior  of  the  state  of  Sao  Paulo  continues  to  be  one 
of  the  strongest  centres  of  Methodist  educational  and 
evangelistic  work.  It  is  the  largest  congregation  in  the 
Brazilian  Methodist  Church.  Years  afterwards,  the 
Methodist  missionaries  found  a  very  attractive  and  fruit- 
ful field  of  work  in  the  great  coffee  zone  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  state  of  Sao  Paulo.  But  the  most 
important  of  their  districts  is  that  which  has  Juiz  de 
Fora  for  its  centre.  This  work  was  a  branch  of  the  Rio 
work,  and  was  begun  ten  years  after  Rio  and  Sao  Paulo 
had  been  occupied;  yet  it  has  become  their  strongest 
district,  having  almost  fifty  per  cent,  more  communicants 
than  any  other  district  of  the  two  conferences. 


Rev.    J.    W.    TARBOUX,    D.    D.. 

Missionary    of    the    Methodist    Ei)isc-oi)al    Church. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        129 

The  Methodists  are  looked  upon  as  the  great  pioneers, 
yet  in  Brazil  they  have  concentrated  their  work  more 
than  the  Presbyterians  have.  Their  original  centres  were 
confined  to  the  three  principal  states  of  the  central  sec- 
tion of  Brazil — Rio,  Sao  Paulo,  and  Minas,  while  the 
Presbyterians  have  established  work  in  eighteen  states. 
Some  years  ago  the  Northern  Methodist  Church,  from 
its  centres  in  the  La  Plata  region,  reached  out  into  the 
neighboring  republic,  and  started  mission  work  in  Rio 
Grande  do  Sul,  the  extreme  southern  state  of  Brazil.  The 
language  of  the  people,  however,  was  Portuguese  and  not 
Spanish,  and  their  natural  affiliations  were  with  Brazil 
lather  than  with  the  Argentine.  In  view  of  these  facts, 
some  ten  years  ago,  the  Northern  Methodists  of  the  La 
Plata  republics  decided  that  they  would  turn  over  to  the 
Southern  Methodists  of  Brazil  the  work  they  had  begun 
on  Brazilian  soil;  and  so  it  came  about  that  the  Metho- 
dists have  an  entirely  new  work  in  an  entirely  different 
field  from  those  at  first  occupied  by  their  forces.  Here 
we  have  another  instance  of  that  beautiful  Christian 
comity  in  mission  work  that  speaks  so  eloquently  and 
conclusively  of  the  reality  of  the  spiritual  oneness  of 
Evangelical  Christendom.  As  the  work  in  Rio  Grande 
was  so  far  removed  from  the  Methodist  work  further 
north,  it  was  decided  that  an  independent  conference 
should  be  organized. 

These  two  conferences  together  have  six  districts, 
with  a  communicant  membership  of  some  6,000.  They 
count  on  their  rolls  thirty-eight  ordained  ministers,  and 
eight  local  or  unordained  preachers.  Of  these,  forty-six 
preachers,  fifteen  are  missionaries  and  thirty-one  natives. 
There  are  also  in  the  mission  force,  about  nineteen  un- 
married  women,    working   under   the   Woman's   Board, 


130        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

and  engaged  in  educational  work ;  and  besides  these,  there 
are  also  fifteen  married  women,  wives  of  missionaries. 
The  Methodist  forces,  then,  number  about  fifty  mis- 
sionaries, or  about  eighty  workers,  counting  both  natives 
and  missionaries. 

The  Baptists,  too,  have  added  their  liberal  share  to 
the  trophies  of  Evangelical  victory.  The  landing  of  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  W.  B.  Bagby  in  1881,  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Southern  Baptist  work;  and  these  workers  were 
joined  the  following  year  by  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Z.  C.  Taylor. 
In  1882,  the  two  families  moved  to  Bahia,  and  there,  in 
October  of  the  same  year,  the  first  Baptist  Church  was 
organized  in  Brazil.  It  was  organized  with  five  mem- 
bers, the  four  missionaries  and  a  converted  priest,  Snr. 
Teixeira.  The  following,  year,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bagby 
moved  to  Rio,  and  a  small  congregation  was  there  or- 
ganized. During  the  twenty-eight  years  of  their  history 
in  Brazil,  the  Baptists  have  done  a  very  aggressive  work, 
and  are  now  found  in  a  number  of  states  of  the  republic. 
They  have  followed  more  closely  the  plan  adopted  by  the 
Presbyterians,  that  of  scattering  their  workers.  Refer- 
ence to  the  map  will  show  the  lines  of  green  from  the 
upper  Amazon  tributaries,  down  the  course  of  the  great 
river  to  Para,  thence  down  the  coast  to  Rio  and  Sao 
Paulo. 

Their  strongest  centres  of  activity  are  in  Rio,  Bahia, 
and  Pernambuco.  The  most  important  enlargement  of 
their  work,  doubtless,  is  the  occupation  of  the  Amazon 
Valley,  and  the  strengthening  of  their  forces  there.  This 
great  river  basin  is  developing  more  rapidly,  perhaps, 
than  any  other  section  of  Brazil ;  and  is  surely  destined  to 
play  an  important  part  in  Brazil's  history  and  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  even  though  Mr.  Agassiz's  predic- 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        131 

tion  as  to  the  centre  of  the  world's  civilization  should 
not  be  fulfilled.  A  vast  population  will  fill  that  valley 
when  modern  medical  science  has  fully  succeeded  in 
preventing  or  curing  the  maladies  peculiar  to  malarious 
lands.  For  years,  this  was  the  part  of  Brazil  most  neg- 
lected; and  the  Baptists  showed  great  wisdom  and  fore- 
sight when  they  entered  the  needy  field. 

In  June,  1907,  the  Baptist  hosts  organized  themselves 
into  an  independent  ecclesiastical  body,  the  Brazilian 
Baptist  Convention.  This  Evangelical  body  has  or- 
ganized work  in  fifteen  of  Brazil's  twenty  states;  and 
they  hope  very  soon  to  incorporate  into  their  organiza- 
tion several  Russian  and  German  Baptist  congregations 
in  the  southern  states  of  Rio  Grande  and  Santa  Catharina, 
with  a  total  membership  of  some  seven  hundred  com- 
municants. Something  like  150  churches  and  congrega- 
tions are  represented  in  the  Baptist  Convention,  with  a 
membership  of  about  6,000.  In  1908,  1,229  baptisms 
were  reported.  They  have  in  their  missions  thirty-seven 
missionaries,  eighteen  men,  eighteen  married  women,  and 
one  unmarried  woman.  There  are  twenty-five  ordained 
native  Baptist  preachers,  a  number  of  unordained  evange- 
lists, and  fifteen  candidates  for  the  ministry.  This  youthful 
member  of  the  great  Baptist  family  of  churches  has  de- 
veloped a  notable  and  commendable  missionary  zeal.  In 
1908,  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  B.  Bagby  was  sent  to  Chile,  where, 
after  a  sojourn  of  two  months,  he  organized  into  con- 
gregations about  500  Baptists,  leaving  them  under  the 
care  of  a  Scotch  minister  and  a  native  pastor.  Later 
in  the  same  year,  the  Rev.  Z.  C.  Taylor  was  sent  to 
Portugal,  where  he  spent  a  few  weeks  in  active  evange- 
listic work,  and  where  he  organized  a  church  in  the  city 
of  O  Porto.  A  native  evangelist  is  maintained  also  in 
the  territory  of  Acre,  near  the  Bolivian  border. 


132        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

The  Episcopalians.     The  story  of  the  coming  of  the 
Rev.   Messrs.   Morris  and   Kinsolving  to   Brazil   in  the 
summer  of   1889,  of  their  temporary  stay   in  the  state 
of   Sao   Paulo,   and  of   their   final   decision  to   establish 
their   centre    of   missionary   operations    in   the    extreme 
southern  state  of  Rio  Grande,  where  the  beginnings  of 
the   Northern   Presbyterian  mission   work   were   turned 
over  to  them,  has  already  been  told.    They  are  now  con- 
cluding the  second  decennial  of  their  missionary  labors, 
and  during  these  twenty  years,  they  have  given  an  ex-  • 
cellent  account  of  themselves.     The  Episcopalians  were 
fortunate  in  the  men  they  first  sent  to  represent  them. 
Messrs.  Kinsolving  and  Morris  laid  the  plans  of  their 
work  along  conservative   lines,   but  broad   and   catholic 
in  spirit.     The  men  who  have  since  joined  the  mission 
force  have  maintained  the  high  standards,  and  a  work 
of  great  promise  has  been  begun.     They  have  aimed  at 
high  quality  in  their  work  rather  than  at  large  visible 
results. 

The  Mission  has  developed  its  own  complete  equip- 
ment of  evangelistic  pastoral,  publication,  and  educational 
work.  Some  years  ago,  the  Rev.  L.  L.  Kinsolving,  one 
of  the  first  representatives  of  his  church,  was  consecrated 
bishop;  and  has  his  Episcopal  residence  in  Rio  Grande. 
Until  quite  recently,  the  Episcopalians  had  confined  their 
work  exclusively  to  Rio  Grande  do  Sul ;  but  some  months 
ago,  one  or  two  chapels  were  opened  in  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

The  writer  very  much  regrets  that  the  requested  in- 
formation regarding  the  work  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
has  not  been  received  in  time  to  be  published  in  this 
chapter.  It  is  hoped  that  full  statistical  data  may  yet 
be  given  in  an  appendix  at  the  end  of.  the  volume.  Statis- 
tics, more  or  less  recent,  gave  them  900  communicants. 


Rev. 


LUCIEN    LEE   KINSOLVING,    D.    D. 
Bishop  of   Southern   Brazil. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        133 

The  Congregationalists.  The  church  that  grew 
out  of  Dr.  Kalley's  work  in  Rio,  and  that  has  been 
greatly  strengthened  by  the  aid  received  from  the  inter- 
denominational society  in  Scotland  known  as  ''Help  for 
Brazil,"  has  confined  its  labors  largely  to  the  city  of 
Rio  de  Janeiro  and  vicinity.  The  original  congregation 
in  Rio,  has  for  many  years  been  under  a  native  pastor, 
and  has  not  only  been  independent  financially,  but  has 
greatly  aided  in  the  evangelization  of  certain  districts  of 
the  state  of  Rio.  In  early  years  a  strong  congregations  was 
also  built  up  in  the  city  of  Pernambuco.  Five  attractive 
church  organizations  are  the  result  of  the  influences  start- 
ed by  that  noble  Scotchman,  Dr.  Robert  Reid  Kalley. 
These  Congregationalists  have  done  a  work  not  great  in  its 
extent;  but  the  quality  of  it  has  always  been  very  high. 
Both  in  doctrine  and  in  practice,  they  stand  for  what  is 
best  in  Evangelical  life  and  principles.  Within  recent 
years,  through  a  kind  of  Central  Committee  of  Evangeli- 
zation, these  devoted  bands  have  been  aiding  an  important 
Evangelical  propaganda  in  Portugal.  A  small  band,  but 
they  may  always  be  depended  on  to  be  about  the  King's 
business.     May  their  tribe  increase. 

The  Evangelical  Mission  of  South  America, 
whose  Brazilian  headquarters  are  in  Sao  Paulo,  as  stated 
in  a  former  chapter,  has  its  forces  scattered.  Most  of 
them  are  in  Sao  Paulo  and  Goyaz,  a  few  are  in  Minas, 
and  one  couple  in  the  capital  of  Matto  Grosso.  They 
have  plans  for  taking  up  work  among  the  wild  Indians 
of  the  far  interior  of  Brazil ;  and  their  stations  in  Goyaz 
and  Matto  Grosso  seem  to  be  Connecting  links,  or  half- 
way stations  between  the  red  man's  country  and  the  out- 
side world. 


134        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

This  Mission  reports  fifteen  missionaries  and  three 
native  preachers ;  nine  organized  churches,  with  263  com- 
municants. One  or  two  church  buildings  have  been 
erected.  Of  their  fifteen  missionaries,  four  are  self-sup- 
porting— that  is  they  earn  their  living  in  some  secular 
employment,  and  spend  their  spare  time  in  the  Master's 
work.  An  earnest  and  devoted  band  of  Christian  war- 
riors, they  are  doing  their  part  toward  the  taking  of 
the  land  for  the  King. 

Such  are  some  of  the  visible,  tangible  results  of  the 
Evangelical  campaign  in  Brazil.  But  many,  and  oft- 
times  the  most  valuable  assets  cannot  be  tabulated;  and 
the  Evangelical  Churches  in  Brazil  are  rich  in  these  in- 
tangible assets.  In  the  preceding  chapter  the  fact  was 
emphasized  that  the  great  aim  of  Foreign  Missions  is 
so  to  preach  the  gospel  among  the  unevangelized  nations 
of  the  world,  and  so  to  develop  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
evangelized  peoples  that  there  ma)^  be  built  up  in  the 
heart  of  the  nation  a  Native  Church,  sound  in  the  faith, 
strong  in  devotion  to  Christ,  aggressive  in  method — a 
church  capable  of  self-support,  self-government,  and 
self -propagation — that  may  be  entrusted  with  the  sacred 
missions  of  evangelizing  its  native  land.  The  greatest 
triumph  of  Evangelical  Missions  in  Brazil,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  the  writer  of  this  book,  is  the  extent  to  which  the 
native  churches  have  been  brought  to  this  point.  One 
cannot  attend  a  meeting  of  one  of  the  stronger  courts 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Brazil,  and  the  writer 
speaks  of  the  courts  of  this  church  because  he  has  had 
better  opportunities  for  observing  them — one  cannot  at- 
tend one  of  the  meetings  of  these  courts  without  being 
impressed  with  the  fact  that  there  is  gathered  a  body  of 
men  who  have  a  high  purpose  in  life,  who  understand 
clearly  what  is  needed  for  the  accomplishment  of  that 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        135 

purpose,  and  who  are  bending  the  energies  of  their  lives 
to  its  accomplishment.  They  are  men  who,  under  the 
guidance  of  God's  spirit,  are  capable,  both  mentally  and 
morally,  of  carrying  out  the  programme  given  by  Christ 
to  his  Church.  The  fact  here  noted,  has  more  than  once 
been  the  subject  of  remarks  by  Bishop  Hoss  of  the  Metho- 
dist-Episcopal Church,  South,  on  his  annual  visits  to  pre- 
side over  the  meetings  of  the  Brazil  Conferences. 

Statistical  figures  and  abstract  statements  can  never 
impress  the  mind  as  do  concrete  cases ;  and  it  will  doubt- 
less be  interesting  to  the  reader  to  have  a  brief  descrip- 
tion of  one  of  the  native  congregations  of  the  Evangeli- 
cal Church  of  Brazil.  The  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Rio  will  be  selected,  because  it  is  one  of  the  most  ac- 
tive, interesting  and  flourishing  congregations  in  Brazil, 
and  shows  what  can  be  done  in  any  other  large  town  or 
city  under  favorable  circumstances.  This  congregation 
is  also  chosen  because  the  writer  had  occasion  to  refer 
to  it  some  months  ago  when  called  upon  to  correct  some 
statements  made  in  regard  to  Protestant  work  in  this 
Southern  Republic,  and  especially  in  regard  to  conditions 
in  Rio.  A  lady  who  had  spent  some  years  in  Brazil  re- 
turned to  her  native  town  in  the  States.  Soon  she  was 
interviewed  by  friends  interested  in  the  mission  work, 
and  who  thought  the  lady  just  back  from  Rio  could  give 
them  first  hand  information.  The  interview  was  far  from 
satisfactory.  The  lady  had  not  been  able  to  find  any 
mission  in  Brazil ;  and  in  Rio,  she  had  found  one  congre- 
gation that  seemed  to  be  composed  mostly  of  colored 
people,  and  into  which  church  she  declined  to  go.  The 
mission  work  amounted  to  nothing,  a  few  poor  and  ig- 
norant ones  might  be  converted  and  brought  into  the 
mission  congregations,  but  no  one  of  the  better  families 


136        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

attended  the  services  or  cared  anything  for  missionary 
work.  This  was,  more  or  less,  the  impression  made  by 
the  travellers  report.  The  missionary  workers  were  dis- 
tinctly disappointed,  and  a  few  days  later,  they  questioned 
the  writer  on  the  subject. 

To  correct  the  impression,  and  to  show  how  little  the 
traveller  knew  about  the  mission  work,  and  how  feeble 
her  efforts  to  find  Evangelical  worship  had  been,  an 
account  was  given  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Rio,  where  the  lady  in  question  had  spent  most  of  her 
time.  This  church  stands  within  five  hundred  yards  of 
the  business  centre  of  the  beautiful  capital,  and  is  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  some  of  the  main  street-car  lines. 
It  is  a  handsome  stone  iSliilding  with  a  seating  capacity  of 
from  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand.  The  pastor  is  a  native 
Brazilian,  a  cultured  gentleman  well  known  and  highly 
respected  by  many  who  belong  to  the  best  social  and  most 
cultured  circles  of  Rio,  and  whose  writings  on  historical 
subjects  are  gratefully  received  by  the  official  organ  of 
the  Brazilian  Historical  Society.  Had  the  sojourner  in 
Rio  attended  this  church  at  the  morning  service  on  a 
communion  Sabbath,  the  day  when  all  the  members  of 
the  widely  scattered  congregation  make  special  effort  to 
be  present,  she  would  have  found  almost  all  of  the  five 
hundred  communicants  in  their  places,  and  the  vast  build- 
ing full  of  worshippers.  If  she  understands  Portuguese, 
she  would  have  heard  a  most  edifying  sermon,  and  would 
have  found  the  entire  service  highly  spiritual  and  uplift- 
ing. In  the  large  congregation,  she  would  have  seen  all 
classes  of  society  represented.  The  poor  and  humble 
would  have  been  found,  for  now,  as  of  old,  the  common 
people  hear  His  message  gladly.  But  the  rich  also  would 
have  been  there.    The  head  of  the  largest  firm  of  builders 


Rev.    ALVARO    REIS, 

Pastor   First   Presbyterian  Church, 
Uio  dc  Janeiro. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        137 

and  architects  in  Rio  is  a  member  of  the  church :  he  and 
his  family  would  have  been  present.  A  gentleman,  hold- 
ing a  place  of  great  responsibility  in  the  most  important 
railroad  company  of  Brazil,  a  graduate  of  the  Military 
Academy  of  Brazil  and  graduate,  in  engineering,  of  the 
correspondence  school  of  one  of  our  North  American 
universities,  is  an  elder  in  the  church,  and  might  have 
passed  the  bread  and  wine  to  our  traveller.  He,  by  the 
way,  is  a  son  of  one  of  the  first  native  ministers  of 
Brazil.  Another  elder  of  the  church  is  a  prominent 
lawyer  in  the  city  of  Rio,  and  in  the  congregation,  com- 
municants of  the  church,  the  visitor  would  have  seen  men 
representing  the  learned  and  official  classes — lawyers, 
physicians,  also  men  belonging  to  the  army  and  to  the 
navy. 

All  this  our  visitor  would  have  seen  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  city  of  Rio,  not  a  hundred  ^^ards  from  where  stands 
the  equestrian  statue  of  Dom  Pedro  I.  This  church  pays 
its  very  active  and  efficient  pastor  a  salary  of  $2,250  a 
year,  and  employs  an  assistant  pastor  to  help  in  the  large 
work  of  city  evangelization.  It  also  furnishes  the  pastor 
a  comfortable  manse,  just  beside  the  church.  Last  year, 
the  congregation  contributed  for  all  causes  almost  ten 
thousand  dollars,  and  this  is  not  much  more  than  the 
offerings  of  preceding  years.  A  picture  of  this  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Rio  is  shown,  also  a  picture  of 
its  pastor,  the  Rev.  Alvaro  Reis. 

This  full  account  is  given  for  several  reasons :  it  will 
show,  as  statistics  cannot  do,  what  is  actually  going  on 
in  Brazil  to-day,  as  a  result  of  Evangelical  missions ;  it 
will  show,  too,  what  can  be  accomplished  in  other  cities 
and   towns   of   Brazil   toward  building   up   strong   self- 


138        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

supporting  churches  that  will  be  powerful  factors  in  the 
evang-elization  of  the  country;  and  finally,  it  will  show 
the  real  value  of  much  of  the  criticism  and  information 
heard  from  people  who  are  supposed  to  have  visited  mis- 
sion lands.  When  travellers  go  abroad,  they  generally 
find  what  they  look  for.  If  they  look  for  Christian  work, 
in  mission  fields,  they  will  find  it ;  if  they  look  for  theatres 
and  races,  as  our  traveller  probably  did,  they  will  find 
them,  in  Rio,  in  great  abundance. 

So  far  only  the  visible  results  have  been  referred  to; 
but  something  must  be  said  in  regard  to  the  results 
achieved  in  the  way  of  institutional  work.  And  first, 
about  Publication.  When  the  arms  of  our  warfare  were 
discussed,  this  branch  of  the  work  was  mentioned,  and  its 
great  value  was  shown ;  in  another  chapter,  something 
will  be  said  as  to  the  desirability  of  combination ;  here, 
however,  let  something  be  said  of  what  the  press  is  really 
accomplishing.  Of  making  many  church  papers  there  is 
no  end,  in  Brazil.  It  would  surely  be  better  if  there  were 
more  intensive  and  less  extensive  work  done  along  this 
line.  All  of  the  Evangelical  Churches  have  their  papers. 
O  Puritauo  and  O  Norte  Evau(^cUcal  represent  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Brazil,  and  O  Estandartc  speaks  for 
the  Independent  Presbyterian  ;  O  Expositor  Christao  up- 
holds the  Methodist  cause,  and  the  Jornal  Baftista  de- 
fends the  ideas  of  our  Baptist  friends ;  O  Estandartc 
Christao  presents  the  ideas  of  the  Episcopalians,  while 
0  Prcsbyteriano  furnishes  expository  and  homiletic  mat- 
ter for  all,  and  looks  after  the  interests  of  the  Sunday- 
schools.  Missocs  Nacionacs  promotes  the  interests  of 
"Domestic  Missions"  of  the  Presbyterians.  There  are 
lesser  lights  whose  name  is  "Legion,"  but  they  cannot 
be  mentioned  in  detail.    These  difiFerent  papers  have  un- 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        139 

doubtedly  had  a  large  influence  on  the  work  in  Brazil, 
and  they  could  not  be  spared,  the  larger  ones,  be  it  un- 
derstood. 

Aside  from  the  publication  of  these  papers,  the  mis- 
sion presses  have  sent  out  millions  of  pages  of  Evange- 
lical and  polemic  literature  in  the  form  of  tracts,  with 
an  occasional  book.  The  Methodists  have  quite  a  large 
publication  plan(t  in  Rio;  and  the  Baptists  have  one 
valued  at  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  Presbyterians  have 
made  one  or  two  efforts  to  establish  a  publishing  house, 
but  so  far  the  efforts  have  come  to  naught.  These  en- 
terprises do  valuable  work,  and  there  is  great  need  of 
this  kind  of  effort;  but,  as  is  said  elsewhere  in  this  vol- 
ume, it  would  be  well  if  efforts  could  be  united,  and 
something  really  large  could  be  undertaken.  These  great 
causes  should  be  interdenominational. 

No  account  of  the  achievements  of  Evangelical  Mis- 
sions in  Brazil  would  be  complete  that  did  not  give  a 
prominent  place  to  what  has  been  done  in  the  way  of 
Educational  Work.  The  value  and  the  necessity  of  it 
v^as  recognized  by  wise  missionaries  from  the  beginning. 
See  Dr.  A.  L.  Blackford's  Sketch  of  Brazil  Missions. 

In  1870,  a  Day  School  was  opened  in  Sao  Paulo  under 
the  care  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Mission.  In  1878, 
a  boarding  department  for  girls  was  added,  and  in  1885, 
one  for  boys.  The  growth  of  the  institution  was  constant 
and  rapid.  In  1886  a  course  of  academic  and  lower  col- 
lege training  was  organized,  and  five  years  later,  the 
college  course  was  made  complete  and  was  incorporated 
under  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  University  of  New 
York.  Being  affiliated  with  that  insitution,  the  diplomas 
are  issued  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  University. 
Courses  are  offered  leading  to  the  degrees  of  bachelor  of 


140        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

arts,  bachelor  of  science,  and  civil  engineering.  During 
the  period  of  its  history  of  thirty-nine  years,  the  tiny 
seedling  of  1870  has  waxed  a  great  tree. 

The  educational  plant  of  the  Northern  Presbyterians 
at  Sao  Paulo,  in  its  various  departments,  offers  a  com- 
plete course  of  instructions,  under  Protestant  influences, 
from  kindergarten  to  the  bachelor's  degree  or  that  of 
civil  engineer.  During  the  twenty-two  years  in  which 
the  schools  have  been  under  the  present  management, 
more  than  eleven  thousand  boys  and  girls  have  attended 
their  classes,  and  have  been  prepared  for  greater  use- 
fulness in  life.  A  number  of  the  men  who  are  doing 
valiant  service  in  the  pulpits  of  the  Protestant  Churches 
of  Brazil  received  their  academic  training  entirely,  or  in 
part,  in  this  Sao  Paulo  School.  Hundreds  of  young 
women  who  are  now  adoring  Christian  homes  or  teach- 
ing the  children  of  Brazil  in  public  or  private  schools 
were  trained  in  Sao  Paulo.  Since  the  incorporation  of 
the  Protestant  College,  commonly  called  "Mackenzie 
College,"  under  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  New 
York,  forty-four  young  men  have  finished  the  full  course 
of  six  years,  and  have  received  their  diplomas.  "All 
of  them  are  profitably  employed,  some  of  them  filling 
positions  of  Influence,"  so  writes  the  president  of  the  in- 
stitution. 

Several  other  schools  of  lower  grade  are  affiliated 
with  Mackenzie  College.  One  or  two  of  them  are  in- 
terior towns  of  Sao  Paulo,  and  two  others  are  under 
the  care  of  missionaries  in  Curitiba  and  in  Florianopolis, 
the  capitals  of  the  states  of  Parana  and  Santa  Catharina. 
The  enrollment  in  Sao  Paulo  in  1908  was  695,  in  all  de- 
partments; and  if  the  pupils  of  the  branch  school  are 
included,  we  probably  have  twelve  hundred,  or  more,  who 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        141 

were   receiving  instruction  under   Protestant   influences. 
The  power  for  good  in  these  institutions  is  vast. 

In  the  interior  of  the  state  of  Bahia  plans  are  being 
perfected  for  the  opening  of  an  Industrial  and  Farm 
School,  on  the  principles  of  self-help.  This  enterprise, 
if  carried  into  effect,  will  have  a  great  influence  on  the 
interior  of  that  state,  and  will  be  a  mighty  factor  in  the 
religious  history  of  that  part  of  Brazil.  Already,  the 
Northern  Presbyterian  missionaries  in  that  field  have  in 
operation  forty-two  local  primary  schools  for  the  train- 
ing of  the  children  of  Protestant  families,  and  that  are 
also  serving  as  centres  of  Evangelical  influence  in  the 
communities.  These  schools  are  self-sustaining,  or  prac- 
tically so.  This  system  of  primary  schools,  under  mis- 
sionary direction,  is  destined  to  have  great  influence  on 
the  interior  region  of  Bahia,  and  probably  in  the  in- 
terior regions  of  other  states. 

The  Southern  Presbyterians  also  undertook  educa- 
tional work  when  their  mission  was  founded  at  Campinas. 
Misfortunes,  death,  and  frequent  changes  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  institution,  however,  prevented  the  ful- 
filment of  the  bright  promise  of  this  work  in  the  early 
years.  Finally,  when  the  mission  force  was  moved  from 
Campinas  and  opened  new  work  at  Lavras,  the  school  at 
Campinas  was  closed.  A  school  for  girls  was  begun  at 
Lavras,  and  a  boarding  department  was  added.  A  school 
for  boys  was  opened  in  1904,  with  day  school  and  board- 
ing department.  During  these  five  years,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  work  has  been  very  rapid.  Lavras  is  a  small 
interior  or  town,  so  the  local  patronage  is  not  large,  most 
of  the  pupils  coming  from  the  surrounding  country,  and 
some  of  them  from  distant  states  of  the  Republic.  A 
few  years  ago,  on  the  initiative,  and  through  the  efforts 


142        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

of  Brazilian  friends  and  patrons,  the  Boys'  School  was 
granted  official  recognition  by  the  Federal  Government. 
This  placed  the  school  on  the  same  footing  as  the  official 
Gymnasium  of  Government,  having  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  that  institution,  its  examinations  being  valid 
for  entrance  into  the  professional  schools  under  govern- 
ment control.  A  year  ago  an  agricultural  department  was 
added  to  this  educational  plant,  and  before  this,  a  com- 
mercial course  had  already  been  organized.  The  general 
name  under  which  all  of  the  schools  are  embraced  is 
"The  Evangelical  Institute":  the  school  for  girls  is  the 
''Charlotte  Kemper  Seminary" ;  the  classical  school  for 
boys,  oiTering  the  diploma  of  bachelor  of  arts,  is  the 
"Gymnasio  de  Lavras,"  "gymnasio"  being  the  term  used 
in  Brazil  for  a  school  of  college  grade,  following  more 
or  less  the  Continental  system;  and  the  school  of  agricul- 
ture is  called  the  "Escola  Agricola  de  Lavras."  During 
the  year  just  closed,  about  two  hundred  and  forty  pupils 
were  enrolled,  seventy-five  of  them  being  in  the  Char- 
lotte Kemper,  the  remaining  hundred  and  sixty-five,  in 
the  Gymnasio  and  the  Escola  Agricola. 

As  the  writer  is  connected  with  this  Lavras  work, 
and  as  a  persistent  and  systematic  effort  is  being  made 
here  to  carry  out  the  ideas  expressed  elsewhere  on  the 
subject  of  industrial  and  farm  schools  as  the  only 
solution  of  the  educational  problem  of  the  Evangelical 
Churches  in  Brazil,  he  may  be  pardoned  for  going 
somewhat  more  fully  into  an  account  of  the  work  than 
would  other  wise  be  expected.  We  have  in  the  In- 
dustrial Department,  cabinet,  saddle  and  shoe  shop, 
besides  a  small  plant  for  printing  and  book-binding,  and  a 
blacksmith  shop.  A  farm  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
has  been  purchased,  and  most  of  the  supplies   for  the 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        143 

two  boarding  departments  will  come  from  our  own  fields. 
Cattle  and  hogs  will  be  raised,  a  small  dairy  plant  will 
be  operated,  and  we  plan  to  do  our  own  butchering. 
Much  of  this  work  will  be  done  by  the  students  of  the 
Agricultural  School  and  by  the  boys  who  are  working 
their  way  through  college. 

The  Agricultural  School  promises  to  be  very  popular, 
ana  the  manual  training  element  is  attractive  to  the  peo- 
ple. Like  all  people-  who  have  recently  been  slave- 
holders, the  Brazilians  or  many  of  them  at  any  rate, 
have  an  idea  that  manual  labor  is  servile.  This  manual 
training  aiid  the  practical  work  of  the  Agricultural  School 
will  go  far  toward  dissipating  such  ideas.  The  father 
is  delighted  to  visit  the  institution  and  find  his  boy  at 
work  with  a  plow,  or  using  his  hands  in  one  of  the 
manual  training  shops.  When  they  come  for  their  sons 
at  the  close  of  the  year,  and  see  a  saddle  or  bridle,  a 
pair  of  shoes,  or  a  chair  made  by  a  boy  they  are  more 
than  delighted.  These  manual  training  shops  and  this 
farm  solve  the  question  of  eleemosynary  education.  No 
boy  is  taken  gratis.  If  he  cannot  pay  full  rates,  he  must 
work  a  certain  number  of  hours  per  week.  The  boy  who 
pays  full  rates  is  required  to  work  at  least  one  hour  a  day 
in  the  shops  or  on  the  farm,  as  a  part  of  his  education, 
and  he  pays  for  this  just  as  for  his  geography  or  his 
arithmetic.  This  has  a  leveling  influence,  and  the  boy 
who  can  pay  does  not  feel  disposed  to  look  down  upon 
the  boy  who  cannot.  The  industrial  and  agricultural 
features  also  solve  the  question  of  the  education  of  can- 
didates for  the  ministry.  A  boy  wishes  to  prepare  himself 
to  preach  the  gospel.  If  he  cannot  pay  his  way,  he  works 
for  his  education  just  as  any  other  boy.  By  the  time 
he  has  been  working  his  way  for  three  or  four  years, 


144        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

he  knows  whether  or  not  he  feels  called  to  the  ministry; 
and  others  have  had  opportunity  of  trying  him.  The 
effort  in  his  own  behalf  has  been  an  education  to  his 
character.  The  twelve  boys  who  have  been  in  the  school 
as  candidates  have  all  worked  their  way,  and  they  have 
won  the  highest  regard  of  their  fellow  pupils  and  of  the 
community. 

Given  an  efficient  equipment,  the  school  will  be  able 
to  receive  half  of  its  boarding  pupils  at  reduced  rates, 
twenty-five  percent,  of  them  paying  nothing  but  their 
number  of  hours  of  labor. 

It  was  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  a  school 
could  maintain  its  decidedly  Christian  character  and  still 
command  a  large  patronage,  and  the  Lavras  experiment 
is  bearing  out  this  contention.  We  do  not  insist  on  the 
pupils'  studying  the  catechisms  of  the  church,  but  we 
do  insist  on  their  studying  the  Bible.  The  catechism  is 
sectarian,  but  all  must  admit  that  the  Bible  is  the  basis 
of  the  Christian  faith,  and  that  the  man  who  calls  him- 
self a  Christian  should  know  something  about  its  teach- 
ings. A  thorough  course  of  study  of  nine  years  is  or- 
ganized, or  is  in  process  of  organization.  It  begins  with 
the  memorizing  of  hymns  and  Scripture  texts,  passes  on 
to  the  study  of  Bible  History  from  different  points  of 
view,  and  ends  at  the  close  of  the  bachelor's  course  with 
the  study  of  Comparative  Religion  from  the  point  of 
view  of  Christian  Apologetics.  The  educated  classes  in 
Brazil  are  skeptics;  the  idea  has  gotten  abroad  that  re- 
ligious belief  is  incompatible  with  wide  learning.  Chris- 
tian schools  must  correct  this  impression..  The  youth 
of  Brazil  must  be  brought  to  see  that  there  is  a  reasonable 
basis  for  the  Christian  religion,  and  that  a  man  may  be 
an  Augustine  in  piety  as  well  as  in  intelligence.     They 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        145 

must  be  convinced  that  a  man  may  be  as  learned  as 
Joseph  Scahger  and  as  devout  as  Samuel  Rutherford. 
Such,  as  the  writer  understands  it,  should  be  the  scope 
and  programme  of  the  Christian  school:  such  are  the 
ideals  of  those  engaged  in  the  Lavras  educational  work. 

The  Southern  Presbyterians,  for  many  years,  neg- 
lected this  educational  arm  of  the  work,  and  they  have 
suffered  the  consequence  of  their  error  in  lack  of  native 
preachers  to  man  their  fields.  Within  recent  years  they 
have  recognized  the  mistake,  and  are  beginning  to  cor- 
rect it.  In  the  southern  part  of  Brazil,  they  have  the 
Lavras  schools.  In  North  Brazil,  a  prosperous  school 
for  girls  was  conducted  for  a  number  of  years  at  Natal, 
in  Rio  Grande  do  Norte :  it  was  transferred  to  Pernam- 
buco  where  it  continues  to  do  good  work.  At  Garanhuns, 
in  the  interior  of  Pernambuco,  a  school  has  been  opened 
for  the  preparation  of  young  men  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  The  necessity  of  preparatory  work  for  these 
young  fellows  will  doubtless  give  rise  to  what  will  be 
the  beginning  of  a  school  for  boys. 

The  cap-stone  of  the  educational  structure,  from  the 
missionary  point  of  view,  at  any  rate,  is,  naturally,  the 
theological  seminary.  The  seminary  of  the  Brazilian 
Presbyterian  Church  is  at  Campinas,  where  it  owns  and 
occupies  the  building  formerly  used  for  the  school  of 
the  Southern  Presbyterians.  The  three  professors  or  the 
seminary  represent  the  three  component  elements  of 
Brazilian  Presbyterianism,  the  two  Presbyterian  bodies 
that  began  the  mission  work,  and  the  vigorous  young 
Native  Church.  This,  in  many  respects,  seems  to  be 
an  ideal  arrangement.  This  school  of  the  prophets  is, 
as  it  should  be,  under  the  care  and  direction  of  a  Board 
of  Directors  elected  by  the  church.     The  professors,  too, 


146        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

are  elected  by  the  church.  When  Native  churches  have 
attained  the  degree  of  development  they  have  reached 
in  Brazil,  to  them,  unquestionably,  belongs  the  training 
of  the  native  ministry.  The  mission  bodies  may  help 
in  the  enterprise ;  but  the  direction  of  the  work  should 
be  in  th  hands  of  the  Native  Church.  Sometimes,  it 
becomes  necessary,  in  the  interests  of  sound  doctrine,  for 
the  missionaries  to  train  the  native  preachers  for  their 
work.  Fortunately,  we  have  no  problems  of  orthodoxy 
to  solve  in  Brazil.  The  soundness  in  the  faith  of  our 
native  ministry  would  delight  the  orthodox  shades  of 
our  Hodges  and  Dabneys. 

The  Methodists,  though  much  weaker  in  numbers, 
and  though  they  came  much  later  to  the  field,  are  doing 
far  more  to  promote  education  in  Brazil  than  are  the 
blue-stockings,  the  traditional  friends  of  learning.  The 
principal  seat  of  their  educational  work  is  at  Juiz  de  Fora, 
where  a  boys'  school  was  founded  in  1890.  The  late 
Bishop  J.  C.  Granbery,  then  in  charge  of  the  mission  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  became  deeply 
interested  in  this  school,  and  in  his  honor  it  was  called 
"The  Granbery."  The  institution  is  widely  known,  not 
only  in  the  state  of  Minas,  but  throughout  the  central 
section  of  Brazil.  Last  year,  it  had  among  its  students 
representatives  of  six  of  the  states  of  the  Republic.  In 
1905,  this  school  was  granted  official  recognition,  and 
enjoys  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Gymnasio 
National,  the  official  school  of  the  Federal  Government. 
Granbery  has  undertaken  quite  a  large  programme  of 
professional  training.  Aside  from  the  collegiate  course 
leading  to  the  bachelor's  degree,  it  offers  two  profes- 
sional courses — one  of  Pharmacy,  another  of  Dentistry. 
Both  of  these  professional  schools  are  officially  recognized 


9  V. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        147 

while  the  Bible  societies  scatter  abroad  the  Word  of  Life. 
To  this  must  be  added  again,  fully  sixty  Evangelical 
schools  with  an  attendance  approaching  5,000.  Of  these 
sixty  schools,  three  are  of  college  grade  and  confer  de- 
grees; twelve,  or  more,  may  be  ranked  with  our  Ameri- 
can high  schools  or  small  country  academies ;  and  the 
rest  of  them  may  be  considered  primary  schools. 

When  we  consider  these  visible  results  so  large,  and 
remember  that  they  have  been  attained  by  forces  so  few 
and  weak,  against  odds  so  great,  it  requires  a  bold  skep- 
ticism not  to  see  God's  hand  in  the  work.  "It  Is  not  by 
might  nor  by  power." 

But  visible  results  are  not  the  only  results,  and  often, 
indeed,  they  are  not  the  most  important  results.  When 
the  day  shall  declare  the  work,  hundreds  and  even  thou- 
sands of  redeemed  ones  will  be  found  in  the  great  throng, 
saved  through  the  influence  of  Evangelical  Missions  in 
Brazil,  but  whose  names  have  never  figured  on  the  rolls 
of  the  congregation.  One  of  the  invisible  results  we  have 
here. 

Again,  very  great  importance  needs  to  be  given  to 
the  silent  leavening  process  that  has  been  going  on  all 
these  years.  This  is  something  that  cannot  be  weighed, 
measured  and  tabulated,  but  every  worker  who  watches 
the  drift  of  current  knows  that  such  work  is  going  on, 
and  that  its  momentum  is  powerful.  The  very  existence 
of  a  large  Protestant  community  in  the  heart  of  the  na- 
tion, the  potent  influence  of  an  open  Bible  more  widely 
known  year  by  year,  the  clear,  constant  voice  of  the 
Evangelical  press,  the  mighty  Influence  of  Evangelical 
schools  on  the  mind  and  character  of  the  young,  all  these 
agencies  have  set  In  motion  mighty  currents  of  Influence 
that  have,  to  a  large  extent,  changed  the  attitude  of  the 


148        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

best   elements   of   Brazilian   society   toward   Evangelical 
religion  and  toward  its  missions. 

When  we  consider  these  fruits  of  victory;  when  we 
compare  conditions  now  with  the  conditions  that  con- 
fronted Dr.  Kalley  and  Mr.  Simonton  fifty  years  ago,  we 
say,  with  bated  breath,  "Behold  what  God  hath  wrought !" 
If  the  first  fifty  years  have  accomplished  so  much,  what 
may  not  the  next  fifty  years  accomplish?  Brazil  feels 
her  need  of  the  influences  that  can  come  only  from  the 
gospel  of  Christ:  and  through  her  hungry  multitudes 
that  need  the  Bread  from  heaven,  through  her  multitudes 
that  have  feasted  their  souls  on  this  heavenly  manna  and 
have  been  satisfied,  she  now  sends  forth  her  call  for 
help.  Let  us,  then,  in  the  closing  chapter  of  this  book, 
give  ear  to  Brazil's  appeal. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        149 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAPAL    brazil's    appeal    TO    PROTESTANT    AMERICA. 

The  knowledge  of  great  victories  won  in  the  past 
should  only  cheer  the  heart,  and  arouse  a  hope  of 
greater  victories  yet  to  be  won.  Great  things  have 
been  accomplished  in  Brazil  in  the  half-century  past; 
but  far  more  remains  to  be  accomplished  in  years  to 
come.  The  gospel  banner  has  been  planted  in  every  state 
of  the  Brazilian  Republic,  and  some  seventy-five  thou- 
sand Evangelical  Christians  are  gathered  under  the 
standards  of  our  King.  Yet  the  sad  fact  remains  that 
perhaps  three-fourths  of  the  people  have,  as  yet,  no  suffi- 
cient knowledge  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 
There  are  still  sixteen  millions  of  the  people  who  have 
not  learned  the  way  of  life. 

It  is  necessary,  therefore,  that  in  the  closing  chapter 
of  this  book  the  question  should  be  asked:  What  is 
needed  to  complete  the  unfinished  campaign  in  Brazil  in 
this  generation? 

Reinforcements  are  Needed.  To  reach  these  millions 
yet  unevangelized  the  work  calls  for  a  large  increase  in 
the  number  of  missionary  evangelists.  For  a  long  time 
in  the  future,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  evangelistic 
work  must  stand  in  the  fore  front  as  the  supreme  work 
of  missions.  The  men  who  stand  out  in  bold  relief  in 
the  early  years  of  the  mission  work  in  Brazil,  the  men 
whose  names  are  household  words — Simonton,  Chamber- 
lain, Edward  Lane,  and  John  Boyle — were  all  men  who 
have  devoted  the  mighty  energies  of  their  lives,  primarily. 


150        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

to  evangelization.  The  call  is  still  for  such  men  to 
push  forward  such  work.  For  sufficient  reasons  a 
missionary  may  be  left  behind  in  territory  that  has 
been  partly  evangelized  and  turned  over  to  the  care 
of  native  pastors ;  he  may  be  needed,  for  instance,  to  help 
in  some  important  institutional  work — educational,  medi- 
cal, or  publication.  But  as  a  rule,  the  place  of  the  mis- 
sionary is  on  the  frontier;  he  is  essentially  a  pioneer. 
When  congregations  are  gathered  and  churches  are  or- 
ganized, they  should,  whenever  it  is  possible,  be  placed 
under  the  care  of  native  pastors.  The  missionary  should 
then  march  again  to  the  frontier,  there  to  open  up  and 
develop  new  work  to  be  again  turned  over  to  the  native 
pastor.  This  is  the  success  and  the  glory  of  the  mis- 
sionary evangelist. 

But  while  emphasizing  the  need  of  reinforcements 
for  the  work  in  Brazil,  it  is  well  to  emphasize  the  fact 
that  care  needs  to  be  exercised  in  the  selection  and 
preparation  of  the  workers.  Numbers  are  needed,  but 
in  Brazil,  quality  will  count  far  more  than  numbers. 
The  churches  in  the  home  land  should  send  forth  to 
the  work  in  Brazil  their  choicest  spirits.  The  mis- 
sionary is  a  pioneer,  he  makes  the  beginning  of  work 
that  must  be  followed  up  through  succeeding  years ; 
he  should  be  a  man  of  intellectual  power,  a  man  who 
can  plan  work  on  broad,  liberal  lines  that  may  be  fol- 
lowed by  his  successors  in  years  to  come.  The  Bra- 
zilians being  a  very  keen-witted  people,  and  their 
educated  classes  composed  of  men  thoroughly  posted, 
who  are  following  some  one  of  the  schools  of  modern 
skepticism,  it  can  easily  be  understood  that  the  mis- 
sionary, to  do  the  best  work  among  them,  needs  to  be 
a  man  of  parts. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        151 

But  not  only  do  we  need  more  missionaries — capa- 
ble, cultivated  and  consecrated — but,  we  need  larger 
equipment,  and  first,  a  large  advance  should  be 
made  in  the  equipment  for  educational  work.  If  the 
great  work  is  to  be  done  in  Brazil  by  the  natives,  these 
workers  must  be  trained  for  efficient  service  and  this 
training  cannot  be  given  without  educational  institu- 
tions. Women  need  to  be  trained  for  the  home,  for 
the  parochial  school,  and  for  work  in  the  schools  of 
higher  grade.  Men  must  be  trained  as  efficient  elders, 
deacons  and  laymen;  for  the  vv^ork  in  the  professor's 
chair  in  college  and  seminary;  to  found  and  to  foster 
educational  institutions  of  the  Brazilian  churches ;  and 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  their  fellow  countrymen  as 
pastors  and  evangelists.  This  program  calls  for  large 
increase  in  educational  facilities.  The  schools  already 
founded  should  be  enlarged  and  more  thoroughly 
equipped ;  and  where  there  is  one  now,  there  should 
be  four  or  five  ten  years  hence.  Only  thus  can  the 
great  work  be  accomplished.  Not  only  should  pro- 
vision be  made  for  training  large  numbers ;  the  schools 
should  be  organized — many  of  them  at  any  rate — 
on  the  principle  of  self-help.  The  poor  boy  or  girl 
should  not  be  turned  away,  if  desirous  of  an  education ; 
but  the  advantages  of  thorough  college  training  should 
be  placed  within  reach  of  any  poor  child  of  the  church 
who  is  willing  to  put  forth  the  exertion  necessary  to 
attain  it. 

Under  the  larger  inspiration  of  the  Laymen's  Move- 
ment, all  the  Evangelical  churches  are  planning  to  do 
larger  things  for  missions.  May  not  large  things  be 
done  for  educational  work  in  Brazil?  Let  schools  be 
organized  of  primary  and  higher  grade  that  will  give 


152        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

instruction  to  the  youth  of  the  BraziUan  churches;  let 
industrial  training  as  well  as  literary  be  given;  let 
there  be  normal  courses  for  the  training  of  teachers, 
literary  degrees  for  those  vv^ho  desire  them,  and  pro- 
fessional training  for  those  v^ho  seek  the  learned  pro- 
fessions. In  harmony  with  these  larger  plans,  may 
not  a  system  of  education  be  organized  that  will, 
within  the  next  ten  years,  place  within  reach  of  the 
Brazilian  youth  all  of  the  advantages  of  intellectual 
training  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  university  degree 
or  professional  diploma,  and  always  under  the  influ- 
ence of  positive  Evangelical  Christianity?  The  influ- 
ence of  high-class  institutions  of  college  or  university 
grade  as  the  recognized  centres  of  Protestant  thought 
and  as  the  authorized  exponents  of  Protestant  prin- 
ciples as  applied  to  the  solution  of  social  and  political 
problems  would  be  far-reaching  indeed.  We  have,  so 
far,  no  such  institutions  in  Brazil.  There  are  institu- 
tions that  could  be  brought  up  to  this  ideal :  but  the 
institution  of  national  reputation,  the  recognized  ex- 
ponent of  Evangelical  Christianity,  the  "Princeton," 
or  the  "Vanderbilt,"  of  Brazil,  is  still  in  the  future,  and 
is  not  even  in  sight. 

But  educational  work  is  not  the  only  thing  calling  for 
enlarged  equipment.  A  field  of  vast  extent  and  great 
usefulness  is  calling  for  the  development  of  the  Publica- 
tion Work.  There  are  several  small  enterprises  con- 
trolled by  the  various  missions,  but  nothing  that  at  all 
measures  up  to  the  needs  and  opportunities  of  the  work. 
Concerted  action  is  needed.  There  have  been  from  time 
to  time  plans  proposed  for  the  uniting  of  these  publish- 
ing houses,  but  owing  to  personal  or  denominational  in- 
terests or  to  narrow  views  of  the  great  work,  owing  to 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        153 

these  or 40  some  other  causes,  these  plans  have  never  been 
reahzed.  When  God's  providence  has  placed  at  hand 
such  powerful  agencies,  agencies  so  efficiently  used  by 
the  enemies  of  truth  and  by  the  apostles  of  error,  should 
not  the  Church  of  Christ  be  wiser  in  her  generation,  and 
make  plans  for  the  largest  possible  use  of  this  mighty 
engine  for  the  propagation  of  the  truths  of  the  blessed 
evangel?  Then  let  the  Missions  on  the  field,  or  the  con- 
trolling Boards  at  home  unite  in  some  plan  that  will  give 
us  a  great  publication  work,  organized  on  wise  and  liberal 
lines,  that  will  give  to  Brazil  the  priceless  benefits  that 
would  flow  from  the  extensive  use  of  the  printed  page. 
No  outlay  of  money  for  equipment  would  bring  larger 
results. 

More  missionaries,  larger  equipment  for  educational 
work,  means  to  support  a  larger  and  better  publication 
work — these  are  the  crying  needs  of  the  field. 

In  supplying  these  needs  where  should  Papal  Brazil 
more  naturally  turn  for  help,  than  to  Protestant  America  ? 

The  late  Dr.  R.  L.  Dabney,  one  of  America's  great- 
est teachers  of  theology,  is  said  to  have  given  it  as  his 
opinion  that  a  mistake  was  made  in  launching  the 
modern  movement  of  world-wide  missions.  His  idea 
seems  to  have  been  that,  in  the  first  place,  the  inter- 
rupted work  of  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury should  have  been  resumed  and  completed;  and 
that,  after  the  reforming  of  papal  lands,  the  great 
work  of  evangelizing  the  nations  should  have  been 
undertaken.  That  is  certainly  a  splendid  conception. 
The  vision  of  a  reformed  and  reunited  Christendom 
marching  with  solid  front  to  the  conquest  of  the 
heathen  world  for  the  Lord  Jesus  is,  indeed,  one  to 
Inspire  and  thrill  the  Christian  heart. 


154        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  Dr.  Dabney's  idea  in 
itself,  the  time  is  now  past  for  its  realization.  The 
vast  enterprise  is  too  far  advanced  to  think  of  radical 
changes  in  the  plants  of  campaign.  But  even  if  it  is 
too  late  for  papal  lands  to  be  evangelized  in  the  first 
place,  surely  it  is  not  too  late  to  urge  that  they  be 
given  an  equal  share  in  the  thought  and  effort  of 
Evangelical  Christendom.  We  do  not  ask  for  the  first 
or  lion's  share;  we  only  plead  that  Brazil  and  other 
papal  lands  be  not  neglected  in  the  church's  plans  for 
the  world's  evangelization,  as  they  have  been  forgotten 
in  the  past.  When  we  consider  the  great  needs  of  the 
field,  the  urgent  calls  that  come  from  the  field,  the 
great  results  obtained  in  the  field,  and  the  vast  pos- 
sibilities of  the  work,  surely  we  must  agree  that  a 
loud  and  urgent  appeal  goes  forth  from  Brazil  to  the 
world.  But  while  Brazil  has  a  claim  on  the  Protestant 
world,  she  has  more  especially  a  claim  on  Protestant 
America,  and  the  principal  object  of  this  final  chapter 
is  to  emphasize  this  special  claim  of  Papal  Brazil  on 
Protestant  America. 

The  Commercial  Bonds,  actual  and  possible,  empha- 
size Brazil's  Claim  on  North  America.  Within  recent 
years  a  remarkable  change  has  come  in  the  commer- 
cial relations  between  the  two  Americas.  The  lines  of 
steamships  plying  between  the  two  halves  of  the 
continent  have  multiplied,  and  the  former  lines  have 
increased  the  number  of  steamers.  A  comparison  of 
the  consular  reports  during  the  last  ten  years  would 
be  interesting.  The  diplomatic  visits  and  courtesies 
between  the  two  countries,  the  Bureau  of  Republics, 
the  Pan-American  Congresses, — these  things  all  indi- 
cate the  trend  of  thought  and  the  tendencies.     The 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        155 

United  States  is  Brazil's  best  customer,  and  it  is 
natural  that  these  commercial  favors  should  be  reci- 
procal. Brazil's  superb  agricultural  possibilities  will 
call  more  and  more  for  farming  machinery,  and  the 
United  States  stands  first  as  manufacturer  of  these 
implements  of  agriculture.  Already  one  may  see  in 
almost  any  part  of  Brazil  that  has  felt  the  impulse  of 
new  life  plows,  cultivators  and  other  implements  with 
names  and  legends  well  known  in  the  States ;  and  this 
is  only  the  beginning. 

The  Panama  Canal  will  open  to  the  trade  of  the 
United  States  the  markets  of  the  west  coast  of  South 
America,  and  will  facilitate,  perhaps,  commercial  rela- 
tions with  some  parts  of  Brazil.  It  was  the  late  Hon. 
Jas.  G.  Blaine  that  first  advocated  seriously  the  con- 
struction of  a  railroad  connecting  the  two  Americas, 
and  there  are  many  who  think  it  will  not  be  many 
years  before  one  will  be  able  to  take  a  sleeping-car 
in  Rio  de  Janeiro  for  the  cities  of  Mexico,  St.  Louis 
and  Chicago.  What  a  wonderful  bond  of  union  that 
would  be,  and  how  greatly  it  would  tend  to  cement  the 
friendship  and  strengthen  the  commercial  relations  of 
the  two  countries.  But  there  is  another  and  a  far  more 
valuable  bond  of  union  within  th  range  of  pos- 
sibilities. Let  the  reader  study  the  map  for  a  moment. 
It  has  already  been  stated  that  the  headwaters  of  the 
Orinoco  and  the  Negro — the  great  northern  affluent 
of  the  Amazon — mingle,  and  the  River  Cassiquiare 
divides  its  waters  between  the  two.  How  easy  it 
would  be  to  cut  a  canal  uniting  the  navigable  waters 
of  the  Orinoco  and  the  Negro.  Now,  let  the  reader 
fancy  the  merchant  ships  dropping  down  in  a  few  days 
from  the  Gulf  ports  of  the  United  States  to  the  mouth 


156        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

of  the  Orinoco,  passing  up  the  Orinoco  and  on  into 
the  Negro  and  the  Amazon.  Once  in  the  Amazon,  its 
southern  tributaries  from  the  south  would  open  up 
communications  with  the  very  heart  of  the  great  Bra- 
ziHan  interior  country,  and  another  canal  would  open 
the  way  to  the  La  Plata  and  to  Buenos  Ayres. 

This  is  no  wild  fancy,  but  would  seem  to  be  a  com- 
mercial enterprise  well  within  the  bounds  of  the  pos- 
sible. But  what  an  agricultural  and  commercial  em- 
pire that  would  open  up,  and  within  what  easy  reach  of 
the  great  centres  of  trade  in  the  United  States.  These 
vast  plains  of  interior  Brazil  are  going  to  be  populated, 
and  their  peopling  means  wonderful  commercial  de- 
velopments. The  trend  of  things  seems  to  indicate 
that  a  large  part  of  this  trade  will  seek  the  markets  of 
the  United  States. 

But  do  commercial  relations  carry  with  them  no 
further  obligations?  Has  a  Christian  man  a  right,  be- 
fore his  Master,  to  associate  intimately  with  other  men 
day  by  day,  in  business  relations,  and  never  speak  to 
them  of  eternal  things,  and  show  them  that  he  is  in- 
terested in  their  spiritual  welfare?  Most  certainly  he 
has  not?  And  is  one  of  the  great  Christian  nations 
of  the  earth,  a  nation  looked  upon  as  an  example  of 
Christianity  in  action,  a  nation  coming  into  the  most 
intimate  and  constant  contact  with  nations  not  Chris- 
tian, to  feel  no  responsibility  for  the  religious  welfare 
of  those  nations?  Is  such  a  nation  not  under  the  most 
sacred  obligation  to  offer  to  the  less  fortunate  peoples 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  the  gospel — that  treasure 
that  is  more  precious  than  the  gold  of  Ophir,  and  with 
which  the  onyx  and  the  sapphire  are  not  to  be  com- 
pared?   Of  course  the  nation  in  its  political  and  gov- 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        157 

ernmental  capacity  can  do  nothing  of  the  kind :  but  the 
people  of  the  nation  in  their  organized  Christian  capa- 
city are  certainly  under  sacred  obligations  in  this  re- 
gard. In  this  way,  the  commercial  bonds  actual  and 
possible  that  bind  the  people  of  the  States  to  the 
people  of  Brazil  emphasize  Brazil's  claim  on  North 
America. 

Another  tie  that  binds  the  Latin  American  repub- 
lics to  the  United  States  and  emphasizes  their  claim 
to  the  affectionate  interest  of  the  great  northern  Re- 
public in  all  that  concerns  their  highest  welfare  is 
the  Bond  of  Political  Affinity.  The  Rev.  Thos.  B.  Wood, 
LL.  D.,  in  the  chapter  contributed  by  his  to  the  vol- 
ume on  "Protestant  Missions  in  South  America,"  pub- 
lished nine  years  ago,  has  some  interesting  and  strik- 
ing paragraphs  on  the  unconquerable  desire  of  the 
Latin  American  republics  to  follow  the  example  of 
their  stronger  sister  in  the  North.  No  one  who  has 
lived  even  for  a  short  time  in  one  of  these  Latin  re- 
publics can  have  failed  to  notice  this  striking  fact. 
The  Latin  Americans  see  in  the  United  States  their 
ideal.  They  look  with  wonder  upon  the  political  sta- 
bility and  the  higher  moral  standards  in  political  life; 
they  are  amazed  at  the  marvelous  industrial  progress 
and  at  the  commercial  prosperity;  they  see  so  much 
that  is  desirable,  and  they  long  to  make  it  theirs. 

Another  interesting  fact  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Wood, 
in  this  connection,  is  that  the  repeated  and  recognized 
failures  of  the  Latin-Americans  through  all  these  years 
to  realize  their  ideals  do  not  seem  to  quench  their  zeal 
in  seeking  to  do  so.  They  have  copied  the  Federal  and 
state  constitutions  of  North  America,  and  in  some  cases 
they  have  improved  on  them;  they  have  formulated,  in 


158        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

full  logical  consistency  with  those  liberal  political  char- 
ters, codes  of  laws  that  rival  in  their  perfection  those 
of  any  country  of  the  world;  they  have  copied  our  sys- 
tem of  public  instruction,  and  have  gone  so  far  as  to 
bring  teachers  from  America  to  aid  them  in  putting  these 
theories  and  systems  into  practical  operation.  And  yet 
when  all  has  been  done,  they  are  painfully  aware  of  the 
fact  that  the  fruits  of  these  constitutions,  laws,  and  edu- 
cational systems  are  very  different  in  South  America 
from  what  they  are  in  the  United  States.  There  is  some- 
thing almost  pathetic  in  the  fact  that  the  Latin-American 
sees  so  clearly  what  is  admirable  and  desirable  in  the  in- 
stitutions of  North  America;  that  he  so  longs  to  realize 
those  blessings  in  his  own  national  life ;  that  he  makes 
efforts  and  sacrifices  to  accomplish  this  and  yet  is  con- 
scious that  he  has  failed.  He  knows  that  he  has  failed, 
and  he  wonders  why. 

Some  who  look  on  at  these  oft-repeated  efforts  and 
failures,  know  the  reason  thereof.  They  see  that  liberal 
constitutions  and  wise  laws  fail  to  bring  to  Latin  America 
the  blessings  they  have  brought  to  Protestant  America, 
arid  they  know  the  reason.  They  understand  the  truth 
so  forcefully  enunciated  by  Prof.  Laveleye  in  his  tract 
on  "The  Future  of  Catholic  Peoples"  to  the  effect  that 
the  religious  life  and  ideals  of  a  people  influence  most 
powerfully  the  institutions  of  their  social  and  political  or- 
ganization, and  they  know  that  Roman  Catholicism  does 
not  form  in  the  national  life  a  basis  for  free  institutions 
and  progressive  development  such  as  is  formed  by 
Protestant  Christianity.  The  Protestant  missionary  and 
the  deep  thinker  among  the  Brazilians  understand  this, 
and  some  day  the  Brazilians  and  the  Latin  Americans 
generally  will  come  to  understand  it.     And  when  they 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        159 

do  come  to  understand  the  real  cause  of  their  political 
and  social  troubles,  there  will  be  a  tremendous  drift 
away  from  Romanism  and  toward  Evangelical  Chris- 
tianity. The  history  of  Northern  Europe  in  the  i6th 
century  may  then  be  repeated  in  South  America. 

Does  not  this  remarkable  political  affinity  between 
Papal  South  America  and  Protestant  North  America, 
this  unquenchable  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Latin  Ameri- 
cans to  emulate  the  example  of  their  brothers  of  the  great 
Republic  of  the  North,  make  them  particularly  ready  to 
learn  what  is  the  cause  of  the  weakness  seen  on  one 
hand  and  the  strength  seen  on  the  other?  And  does  not 
this  place  upon  the  Christian  people  of  North  America 
a  solemn  obligation  to  give  to  their  brothers  in  the  South 
the  one  thing  needful  to  make  them  stable  and  strong? 
Once  let  Brazil  get  the  principles  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity instilled  into  the  life  of  her  people;  once  let  the 
iron  of  those  rigid  doctrines  of  the  Evangelical  Faith 
get  into  the  blood  of  the  nation,  and  we  shall  see  a  de- 
velopment in  the  intellectual,  industrial  and  commercial 
life  of  the  people  that  will  amaze  mankind.  Shall  we 
not  give  them  this  gospel? 

The  important  part  that  Brazil  is  so  clearly  destined 
to  play  in  the  solution  of  the  great  problems  of  mankind 
makes  it  imperative  that  her  people  he  brought  under  the 
iniluence  of  Evangelical  Christianity.  It  is  often  said 
that  the  future  of  the  world  belongs  to  the  Western 
Hemisphere  and  there  is  much  to  make  one  think  that 
this  is  true.  Surely  one  of  the  marvels  of  history  is  that 
one-fourth  of  the  earth's  land  surface  should  have  lain 
absolutely  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  the  nations  for  thirty- 
five  centuries  after  history's  dawn.  Was  it  not  reserved 
for  some  wise  purpose  in  God's  providence?    It  was  "in 


i6o        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

the  fulness  of  time"  that  Columbus  lifted  the  veil  and 
discovered  to  the  world  the  Western  Hemisphere. 

The  world  had  learned  the  lesson  of  its  childhood  and 
youth,  and  was  ready  for  the  sober  activities  of  mature 
manhood.  Lessons  of  government  had  been  learned ;  the 
despotism  and  tyranny  of  absolute  monarchy  had  been 
discarded,  and  the  principles  of  civil  liberty  and  equality 
were  being  proclaimed :  the  era  of  democracy  had  dawned. 
Lessons  of  social  science  had  been  learned,  and  already 
some  understood  that  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal, 
while  the  principles  that  were  to  undermine  social  servi- 
tude were  beginning  to  be  held  sacred.  Lessons  of  re- 
ligion had  been  learned  also.  The  history  of  the  race  had 
proved  that  mankind  cannot  be  atheistic,  but  must  have  a 
religious  belief;  the  splendid  polytheisms  of  the  ancient 
world  had  been  weighed  in  the  balances  and  found  want- 
ing ;  and  the  monotheisms  of  Israel  and  Islam,  without  an 
atoning  sacrifice,  had  shown  themselves  insufficient  to 
satisfy  the  spirit  of  man,  and  to  regenerate  and  ennoble 
the  race.  All  these  lessons  had  been  learned  when 
America  lifted  her  hand  from  beyond  the  seas  and  beck- 
oned man  to  the  new  world,  there  to  work  out  the  great 
problems  of  his  destiny  free  from  the  influence  of  old 
world  traditions. 

It  seems  little  less  than  miraculous,  too,  that  America, 
which  but  little  more  than  a  century  ago  was  a  group  of 
oppressed  and  exploited  colonies  of  the  European  powers, 
should  now  be  in  the  vanguard  of  the  world's  progress. 
America  is  to-day  the  asylum  of  the  world's  oppressed 
multitudes;  the  world's  school-master  in  the  art  of  free 
government  and  in  the  science  of  sociology;  and  the  cen- 
tre of  the  world's  religious  activity  to-day  is  found  in 
the  United  States.     There  is  much,  therefore,  to  lead 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        i6i 

men  to  think  that  the  world's  future  is  in  America,  that 
the  great  problems  of  mankind — political,  social,  and  re- 
ligious— are  to  be  worked  out  in  the  Western  Hemis- 
phere. But  if  these  problems  are  to  be  solved  in  America, 
it  is  clear  that  the  work  cannot  be  satisfactorily  done 
without  the  aid  of  the  southern  half  of  the  continent. 
South  America  is  capable  of  sustaining  as  great  a  popu- 
lation as  North  America.  Teeming  milions  will,  in  com- 
ing years,  people  Brazil's  plains  and  mountain  valleys; 
and  these  millions  must  have  a  mighty  influence  on  the 
character  and  destinies  of  the  American  continent.  What 
shall  that  influence  be?  Shall  it  be  on  the  side  of  righte- 
ousness? or  shall  it  be  on  the  side  of  ungodliness  and 
sin? 

There  is  just  one  influence  that  will  make  Brazil,  or 
any  other  nation,  a  blessing  to  the  world  and  a  power 
for  righteousness,  and  that  influence  comes  from  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  Will  then  Protestant  North  America 
not  give  to  Papal  Brazil  the  blessings  of  Evangelical 
Christianity,  and  so  make  her  an  efficient  and  powerful 
ally  in  fighting  the  battles  for  that  righteousness  that 
exalteth  a  nation,  and  in  solving  the  great  problems  that 
are  to  affect  the  destinies  of  mankind?  Statesmen  and 
social  economists  foresee  the  influence  Brazil  must  have 
in  the  history  of  the  American  continent,  and  they,  as 
becometh  wise  men,  are  taking  steps  to  bind  together 
the  two  great  American  Republics  with  the  cords  of  poli- 
tical and  commercial  union.  Should  the  "children  of 
light"  be  less  v/ise  in  their  generation?  Should  not  the 
Evengelical  Churches  of  North  America  see  to  it  that 
these  two  great  peoples  are  bound  together  with  bonds 
of  a  common  religious  faith?  cords  which,  albeit  invisible, 
are  far  stronger  than  the  ties  of  blood  or  of  commercial 
interest. 


i62        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

The  appeal  made  in  behalf  of  Brazil  has,  so  far,  been 
based  partly  on  commercial,  political,  and  sociological 
considerations,  and  to  this  extent  the  appeal  is  made  to 
altruistic  rather  than  to  religious  motives.  But  mission 
work  must  be  based  primarily  on  spiritual  motives,  and 
the  appeal  must  be  made  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  God's 
glory,  and  loyalty  to  his  commands  must  be  the  great  con- 
straining cause.  Now  let  us  turn  our  attention  to  the 
real  motives  of  the  great  work. 

And  in  the  first  place,  it  may  be  said  that  America  will 
probably  be  the  great  battle-ground  betzveen  pure  and 
apostate  Christianity,  and  that,  for  this  reason,  great 
eftort  should  be  made  to  win  Brazil  and  all  Latin  America 
to  the  Evangelical  faith.  Romanism  is  active  and  mili- 
tant; and  she,  like  Evangelical  Christendom,  is  pushing 
her  missionary  enterprises  among  the  heathen  nations  of 
the  earth.  She  will  win  her  victories  in  the  future,  as 
she  has  done  in  the  past,  leading  the  people  to  give  up 
one  form  of  paganism  for  another,  to  exchange  a  pagan- 
ism having  a  heathen  basis  for  another  having  a  Christian 
basis.  But,  finally,  what  will  the  issue  be?  Many  think 
the  heathen  religions  will  disappear,  and  that  the  world 
will  be  divided,  religiously,  between  the  two  forms  of 
Christian  faith — the  true  and  the  apostate.  Then  will 
the  "man  of  sin"  stand  face  to  face  with  the  man  of  the 
gospel.  Then  the  beast  of  Rome  will  rise  up  against  Him 
who  wears  upon  his  thigh  the  sword  of  the  Spirit. 

Where  the  final  conflict  will  be  waged,  no  word 
of  prophecy  has  made  clear.  But  many  things  in  mod- 
ern and  contemporary  history  would  lead  one  to 
believe  that  the  field  of  battle  in  this  final  struggle 
between  truth  and  error,  between  Protestant  and 
Papal  Christianity,  will  be  in  America.     The  greatest 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        163 

migratory  movements  of  to-day  are  among  Roman 
Catholic  peoples  of  Europe.  Millions  of  them  are  com- 
ing to  America  every  year.  Many  of  them  are  finding 
homes  in  the  United  States,  but  many  of  them  are 
occupying  the  unpeopled  lands  of  Brazil  and  of  Latin 
America.  If  the  Evangelical  forces  are  growing 
stronger  year  by  year  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  so 
are  the  Romish  hosts.  These  things  may  indicate  that 
the  armies  are  gathering  to  battle.  If,  then,  the  final 
struggle  between  light  and  darkness,  between  right- 
eousness and  sin,  is  to  be  a  struggle  between  the  true 
and  apostate  forms  of  Christianity,  between  the  Chris- 
tianity that  takes  God's  Word  as  its  only  guide  and 
authority  and  the  Christianity  that  bows  before  the 
mandates  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome ;  if  this  is  to  be  the 
final  issue,  and  if  America  is  to  be  the  battle-ground, 
surely  it  behooves  the  Evangelical  forces  of  Christen- 
dom to  be  diligent  in  preparation.  Earnest,  persistent 
and  determined  effort  should  be  made  to  establish  in 
Latin  America  many  and  strong  centres  of  Evangeli- 
cal light  and  influence.  If  North  America  will  always 
be,  in  large  measure,  what  the  people  of  the  United 
States  make  it ;  so  South  America  will,  in  the  future, 
be  largely  what  the  people  of  Brazil — the  central  and 
the  largest  of  her  powers — make  it ;  and  for  this  rea- 
son, a  loud  and  strong  appeal  is  here  and  now  sent 
forth  to  the  Evangelical  hosts  of  North  America  to  win 
this  fair  land  for  Christ. 

Considerations  like  the  foregoing  will  move  the 
hearts  of  those  who  take  a  broader  view  of  the  inter- 
ests of  God's '•Kingdom  in  the  world,  and  will  appeal 
strongly  to  some  who  look  at  these  questions  from 
the    point    of   view    of   religious    statesmanship ;    but 


164        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

zvJwt  moves  the  heart  of  the  great  and  noble  army  of 
Christ's  follozuers  is  the  heart-hunger  of  the  Brazilian 
people.  The  hunger  of  starving  multitudes  is  ever  the 
loudest  call  for  help;  and  the  supreme  appeal  of  the 
people  of  Brazil  to  the  heart  and  conscience  of  the 
Christian  people  of  North  America  and  the  world  is 
the  fact  that  they  need  the  saving  influences  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  that  they  need,  and  need  sorely, 
abundant  supplies  of  the  bread  of  life. 

The  picture  draw^n  in  the  preceding  chapters  of 
Romanism  in  Brazil,  a  picture  the  main  features  of 
which  are  taken  not  so  much  from  the  writings  of 
missionaries  as  from  those  able  Brazilians  who  are 
not  Protestants,  is  the  fullest  proof  possible  of  Brazil's 
need  of  the  gospel.  Her  educated  classes,  many  of 
them  men  of  rare  talents,  are,  almost  to  a  man,  living 
in  the  cold  mists  of  infidelity.  The  unlettered  masses 
are  the  victims  of  priestcraft,  having  a  form  of  godli- 
ness, without  the  regenerating  and  sanctifying  power 
thereof;  they  are  given  over  to  a  superstitious  worship 
of  saints  and  images  much  more  akin  to  the  paganisms 
of  ancient  and  modern  times,  than  to  the  religion  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles ;  theirs  is  a  religion  of  forms 
and  ceremonies,  honoring  God  with  their  lips,  while 
their  hearts  are  far  from  him.  If  faith  without  works 
is  dead  ;  if  religion  without  morality  is  a  mocking  of 
God,  then  the  Romanism  of  Brazil  stands  condemned. 
If  Christ  is  the  only  mediator  between  God  and  man ; 
if  there  is  no  other  name  than  his  given  among  men, 
whereby  we  must  be  saved,  then  the  religion  of 
Brazil's  masses  is  without  the  saving  power  of  the 
gospel,  and  those  masses  stand  in  need  of  the  Chris- 
tinnity  of   God's   Word.     Such  is  Brazil's   need,   and 


Rev.  J.  W.  SHEPARD, 
President  Br.ptist  College  and  Seminary. 
Kio  (ie  Janei7-o. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        165 

Brazil's  need  is  Brazil's  call.  May  it  fall  upon  the 
ears  and  the  hearts  of  God's  people  in  all  lands,  con- 
straining them  to  labor  and  to  pray  for  Brazil's 
redemption. 

Brazil  is  our  Samaria.  When  the  Saviour  gave  to 
His  apostles  the  great  missionary  charter  of  the  church, 
indicating  the  source  of  her  power — the  *'Holy  Ghost 
come  upon  you,"  stating  her  function — ''witnesses  unto 
me,"  and  outlining  her  field — "Jerusalem  and  Judea, 
Samaria,  and  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth,"  He 
placed  Samaria  before  the  pagan  lands  of  the  world. 
There  were  geographical  and  religious  reasons  for  this 
order.  Samaria  was  the  nearest  neighbor  to  the  Jew, 
and  her  religion  was  a  corrupt  and  apostate  form  of 
the  Jewish  faith.  The  Samaritans,  too,  had  in  them 
the  making  of  fine  evangelists,  as  witnesseth  the  Sama- 
ritan woman  who  left  her  waterpot,  and  went  her  way 
into  the  city,  and  saith  to  the  men,  "Come,  see  a  man 
which  told  me  all  things  that  ever  I  did:  is  not  this 
the  Christ?";  and  when  converted,  they  would  be  as 
zealous  as  their  Jewish  brethren  in  publishing  salva- 
tion unto  the  ends  of  the  earth.  And  just  so  is  Latin 
America  a  Samaria  to  Protestant  North  America.  It 
lies  just  at  her  doors:  one  has  but  to  cross  the  Rio 
Grande  between  Texas  and  Mexico,  or  the  Strait  of 
Florida  between  Key  West  and  Havana,  to  reach  the 
field.  Romanism,  too,  the  religion  of  Latin  America, 
And  who  could  doubt,  in  view  of  what  they  are  doing 
is  a  corrupt  and  apostate  form  of  true  Christianity, 
for  the  evangelization  of  their  own  peoples,  that  the 
Latin  Americans,  once  brought  into  the  fold  of  Evan- 
gelical   Christendom,    would    make    splendid    compan- 


i66        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

ions  in  arms  for  the  conquest  of  the  rest  of  the  world 
for  Christ? 

Dr.  Dabney's  idea  that  the  Roman  CathoUc  nations 
should  have  been  won  before  the  evangelization  of  the 
heathen  world  was  undertaken  has  been  mentioned; 
but  the  time  for  this  program  was  seen  to  be  past.  We 
do  not  ask  for  the  first  place  or  the  largest  share  on 
the  great  movement  for  the  redemption  of  the  world; 
we  only  ask  that  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  her  great 
haste  to  reach  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth,  should 
not  forget  or  neglect  Samaria  that  lies  just  at  her 
doors. 

Another  fact  that  lends  great  emphasis  to  Brazil's 
appeal  to  Protestant  America  is  that  the  other  churches 
of  Evangelical  Christendom  are  bending  their  energies 
to  the  evangelization  of  other  lands  and  are  doing  noth- 
ing for  Brazil.  If  we  look  to  the  great  mission  fields 
of  Asia,  Africa  and  the  South  Seas,  we  find  the  Chris- 
tian world  at  work  there,  all  pushing  forward  the  great 
enterprise.  When  we  turn  our  eyes  toward  Brazil,  we 
see  no  representatives  of  Australian  churches,  and  no 
representatives  of  European  churches — not  even  the 
Canadian  churches,  although  American,  are  repre- 
sented here.  In  the  partition  of  the  mission  fields 
among  the  churches  engaged  in  the  work,  Brazil 
seems  to  have  been  left  as  the  peculiar  field  of  activity 
of  the  Evangelical  churches  of  the  United  States.  If 
such  be  the  case,  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  a  sacred 
trust  implies  a  solemn  obligation.  It  is  not  forgotten, 
in  this  connection,  that  there  are  one  or  two  small 
independent  agencies,  representing  Canadian  and  Brit- 
ish Christians  that  are  doing  valuable  work  in  Brazil. 
All  these  efforts  are  gratefully  recognized,  and  God  is 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        167 

praised  therefor;  but  the  bulk  of  the  work  must  nat- 
urally be  done  by  the  great  Mission  Boards,  operating 
through  their  regular  channels;  and  no  European, 
Canadian  or  Australian  Board  is  represented  in  the 
missionary  work  in  Brazil.  If,  then,  the  bulk  of  this 
work  in  Brazil  is  to  be  done  by  the  Christian  people 
of  the  United  States,  let  the  words  of  the  Master  sink 
deep  into  the  hearts  of  those  Evangelical  churches,  and 
let  them  hearken  unto  the  Lord  when  he  says  ''and 
ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me   ...   in  Samaria>." 

The  success  of  the  work  adds  force  to  the  appeal. 
Chapter  VII  tells  of  the  fruits  of  victory,  and  the  his- 
tory of  these  fifty  years  of  Evangelical  Missions  in 
Brazil  gives  a  new  meaning  and  adds  a  new  force  to 
the  appeal  now  sent  forth.  When  we  consider  what 
has  been  accompUshed  by  means  so  few  and  so  feeble, 
against  odds  so  great,  in  the  short  space  of  a  half- 
century,  we  are  amazed,  and  our  first  thought  is: 
What  hath  God  wrought!"  Much  has  been  said  in 
this  book  of  Brazil's  needs;  the  success  of  the  work 
is  the  clear  proof  of  the  fact  that  there  is  a  need,  that 
the  Brazilian  is  conscious  of  his  need,  and  that  he 
recognizes  more  and  more  that  in  the  pure  gospel  of 
Christ  he  finds  what  will  satisfy  his  needs.  This  suc- 
cess calls  forth  another  reflection,  too.  If  so  much 
has  been  done  in  so  short  a  time,  by  instruments  so 
few  and  so  feeble,  what  may  we  not  hope  to  see  accom- 
plished when  Evangelical  North  America  becomes 
fully  aroused  to  her  great  opportunity,  and  sends  forth 
her  sons  and  daughters  in  larger  numbers  to  enlist 
in  the  campaign  for  Brazil's  emancipation  from  the 
servitude  of  Rome?  Cheered  by  the  history  of  the 
past  fifty  years,  we  turn  to  the  future,  our  faces  bright 
with  hope,  and  dream  of  what  greater  things  God  will 


1 68        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

accomplish  in  the  next  half-century.  Then,  as  hope 
rises  on  the  wings  of  faith,  we  look  further  into  the 
.  future,  and  see  the  glad  crowning  day,  when  this 
warm-hearted  and  generous  people  of  Brazil,  subdued 
by  the  arms  of  spiritual  warfare,  shall  gladly  enthrone 
our  Saviour  in  their  hearts,  and  crown  him  Lord 
of  All. 

We  have  now  reached  the  last  paragraph  of  our 
book.  Through  eight  chapters  the  reader  has  been  led. 
He  has  seen  Brazil,  the  land  of  the  beautiful  bay,  the 
land  of  great  possibilities.  Having  seen  the  land,  he 
has  been  introduced  to  its  genial  and  quick-witted  in- 
habitants, and  has  followed  them  through  four  cen- 
turies of  their  history — colonial,  imperial  and  repub- 
lican. Through  the  eyes  of  the  missionary  and 
through  the  eyes  of  non-Protestant  writers  in  Brazil, 
he  has  seen  the  moral,  social,  and  religious  needs  of 
the  people  that  can  be  satisfied  only  by  the  influences 
that  come  from  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Having  seen 
the  need  of  the  Evangelical  Invasion,  he  has  been  al- 
lowed to  review  the  forces  in  action,  to  inspect  the 
weapons  of  the  spiritual  warfare,  and  to  see  some  of 
the  more  important  fruits  of  victory.  Convinced  of 
the  need,  and  cheered  by  the  results  of  a  half-century 
of  the  warfare,  he  has  been  told  of  the  unfinished  cam- 
paign, and  has  heard  the  call  for  reinforcements  issued 
and  emphasized. 

And  now,  with  a  prayer  that  this  little  volume  may 
bring  a  blessing  to  thousands  who  by  it  may  be  led 
to  give  their  prayers,  their  sustenance,  and  themselves 
to  the  hastening  of  the  day  of  victory;  and  that, 
through  those  prayers  and  offerings,  the  blessings  of 
the  gospel  may  the  more  speedily  come  to  Brazil,  the 
author  bids  his  readers  adieu. 


It/MPHO  ^ 


MAP  OF  BRAZIL. 

MISSION  STATIONS  OPTHE 
PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  IN  THE 
V.5.  SHOWN  BY  BLACK  SQUARES 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        169 


APPENDIX  L 


I.    CHURCHES  AND  MEMBERSHIP. 

1.  Presbyterians  and  Independent  Presbyterians. 

Organized  Churches,  151 ;  Congregations,  100+ ; 
Membership,  15,000^  approximately. 

2.  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Brazil.     Two  Con- 

ferences. 
Organized  Churches,  46;  Congregations,  — .     Many 
of  these  46  churches  represent  pastoral  charges 
comprising  a  number  of  congregations.    Mem- 
bership, 6,000,  approximately. 

3.  Baptist  Church  in  Brazil. 

Organized  Churches  and  congregations,  150,  approxi- 
mately.    Membership,  6,000,  approximately. 

4.  The  Brazilian  Episcopal  Church. 

Organized  Churches,  15;  Congregations,  — .  Mem- 
bership, 1,000  to  1,100. 

5.  Congregational  Church. 

Organized  Churches,  8;  Congregations,  — .  Mem- 
bership, 1,000,  approximately. 

6.  Evangelical  Mission  of  South  America. 

Organized  Churches,  9;  Congregations,  — .  Mem- 
bership, together  with  other  Interdenomina- 
tional Societies,  500. 

The  above  figures  show  that  in  Brazil  there  are,  at  present,  more 
than  400  pastoral  charges,  churches  and  congregations  in 
process  of  organization,  with  a  membership  of  Evangelical 
Christians  of  30,000,  approximately. 


170        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

II.    WORKERS. 

1.  Missionaries. 

^  (a)   Presbyterian,  North. 

Ordained,    10;    unordained   men,   i;   wives,   9; 
unmarried  v/omen,  5.     Total,  25. 

' — (b)    Presbyterian,   South. 

Ordained,    11;   unordained  men,  2;   wives,   9; 
unmarried  women,  9.     Total,  31. 

(c)  Methodist. 

Ordained,    15 ;    wives,    15 ;   unmarried   women, 
19.     Total,  49. 

(d)  Baptist. 

Ordained,  16;  unordained  men,  2;  wives,   18; 
unmarried  women,  i.    Total,  37, 

(e)  Episcopal. 

Ordained,  6;  wives,  — ;  unmarried  women,  — . 
Total,  6+. 

(f)  Congregational. 

Ordained,  5;  wives,  — ;  unmarried  women,  — . 
Total,  5+. 

(g)  Evangelical  Mission  of  South  America. 

Men,  8 ;  married  women,  4 ;  unmarried  women, 
.  3.     Total,  15. 

Totals;  Ordained,  71;  unordained  men,  5  or  more; 
wives,  55 ;  unmarried  women,  -^T.  Total  of  mis- 
sionaries, including  three  Y,  M.  C.  A.  Secre- 
taries, two  of  them  married,  173. 

2.  Natives. 

(a)   Presbyterian. 

Presbyterian   Church  of  Brazil,  -or- 
dained ministers  35 

Independent     Presbyterian    Church, 

ordained  ministers  14 

Total   Presbyterians   49 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        171 

(b)  Methodist — ordained  ministers  31 

(c)  Baptist — ordained  ministers  25 

(d)  Episcopal — ordained  ministers   14 

(e)  Evangelical  Mission  of  South  America 

— ordained  ministers  3 

(f)  Congregational — ordained   ministers. .  2 

(g)  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Secretary  i 

Total  number  natives  actively  engaged....     125 

The  Presbyterians  have: 

Missionary  w^orkers    56 

Native  workers    49 

Total  of  Presbyterians 105 

The  Methodists  have: 

Missionary   workers    49 

Native  workers  31 

Total  Methodists  80 

The  Baptists  have: 

Missionary  workers    Zl 

Native   workers    25 

Total  of  Baptists (^2 

The  Episcopalians  have: 

Missionary  workers  6+ 

Native  workers    14 

Total    of   Episcopalians 20+ 

The  Evangelical  Mission  of  South  America: 

Missionary  workers   15 

Native   workers    3 

Total  of  E.  M.   S.  A —        18 

The   Congregationalists   have : 

Missionary  workers    5 

Native  workers    2 

Total  of  Congregationalists....     7 


^ 


172        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association: 

Missionary   workers    5 

Native   workers    i 

Total  of  Y.  M.  C.  A —          6 

Total  number  of  workers,  missionary  and  native  298 

Distributing  Brazil's  20,000,000  of  population  among  these 
workers,  we  have  these  astonishing  figures.  Each  worker,  native 
and  missionary,  has  a  parish  in  Brazil  of  about  70,000  souls.  Each 
ordained  worker,  native  and  missionary,  has  a  parish  of  100,000 
souls.  Each  missionary  worker  has  112,000  as  his  share,  and 
each  ordained  missionary  has  280,000  in  his  parish.  In  China, 
each  missionary  worker  has  100,000  as  his  part;  in  India,  he  has 
65,000;  in  Brazil,  112,000.  Brazil  almost  twice  as  destitute  as 
India. 

But  this  is  not  the  most  striking  contrast.  In  China,  each 
missionary  worker  has  a  parish  of  about  1,100  square  miles,  a 
territory  a  little  smaller  than  Rhode  Island.  The  missionary 
worker  in  India  must  cover  a  parish  of  only  350  square  miles, 
about  a  third  the  size  of  that  of  his  brother  in  China.  The  mis- 
sionary worker  in  Brazil,  however,  has  a  parish  of  15,000  square 
miles,  or  about  the  size  of  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut  combined. 

The  figures  thus  presented  are  somewhat  startling,  but  the 
figures  do  not  tell  the  whole  story;  for  the  missionary  worker  in 
Brazil,  instead  of  having  the  railroad  facilities  he  would  have  in 
covering  such  a  parish  in  New  England,  must  make  his  way  for 
the  most  part  on  horseback.  Truly  has  South  America  been 
characterized  as  "The  Neglected  Continent." 

In  two  or  three  instances,  when  accurate  and  complete  figures 
cannot  be  given,  a  plus  sign  (  +  )  is  added,  as,  for  example,  in 
giving  the  number  of  missionary  workers  in  the  Episcopal  force. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        173 
APPENDIX  II. 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  MISSIONARY  TO  THE  NATIVE  CHURCH. 

Let  him  bear  in  mind  always  that  he  and  his  work  belong  to 
a  passing  phase  of  the  enterprise  of  the  world's  redemption,  and 
that  the  native  worker  is  the  real  and  permanent  factor  in  the 
problem.  His  attitude  of  mind  and  spirit  toward  his  native 
brother  should  find  adequate  expression  in  the  Baptist's  words, 
"He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease."  The  true  missionary 
labors  to  build  up  a  church  that  will  not  need  his  aid  and  care ; 
and  the  more  rapidly  he  succeeds  in  doing  thisj  the  more  suc- 
cessful will  his  work  be  considered,  the  greater  will  be  his 
honor.  The  attitude  should  be  that  of  one  who  stands  ready 
to  help  when  needed ;  but  who  never  seeks  to  do  for  the  native 
brethren  what  they  can  do  for  themselves.  As  helper,  guide,  and 
counsellor,  he  will  be  heard  with  respect,  deference  and  affection ; 
his  aid  will  be  valuable.  As  a  self-constituted  ecclesiastical 
censor,  he  will  do  harm. 

There  are,  however,  other  relations  that  need  to  be  clearly 
understood,  other  problems  that  need  to  be  wisely  solved  if  <ve 
would  hasten  the  end  of  the  great  campaign  in  Brazil.  These 
relations  are  those  between  the  mission  organizations  and  the 
native  church  courts. 

Out  of  these  relations  arise  serious  problems;  and  if  there  is 
to  be  a  great  advance  movement;  if  the  mission  forces  now  on 
the  field  are  to  receive  large  reinforcements,  as  should  be  the 
case  in  view  of  the  great  revival  of  missionary  interest  in  the 
home  churches,  then  it  is  important  that  these  relations  be 
clearly  understood,  that  these  problems  be  wisely  solved.  The 
lack  of  clear  understanding  and  of  wise  solution  has  greatly 
hindered  the  work  at  times. 

In  the  early  days  of  mission  work  in  a  country,  these  problems 
do  not  arise;  they  are  incident  to  the  more  advanced  stages  of 
the  work,  and  the  evidences  of  no  small  amount  of  success 
attained  in  the  enterprise.  The  more  vigorous  the  young  native 
church,  the  more  acute  the  questions  are  apt  to  be.    In  the  early 


174        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

days  or  yeais  of  mission  history,  the  missionary  exercises  all 
ecclesiastical  functions;  he  is  pastor,  session,  presbytery,  all  in 
one.  But  when  churches  are  organized  and  placed  under  native 
pastors  and  sessions;  when  congregations  have  multiplied  and 
ecclesiastical  courts  must  have  jurisdiction:  then  it  is  that  rela- 
tions between  the  mission  and  the  native  church  courts  may  be- 
come strained,  and  serious  problems  may  arise.  The  solution  may 
be  sought  along  any  one  of  three  lines.  The  missionaries,  being 
the  older  men,  and  having  control  of  finances,  may  retain  in  their 
hands  most  of  the  authority  and  management :  this  is  unwise 
and  suicidal,  for  it  dwarfs  the  life  of  the  native  church  and  delays 
the  very  thing  the  missionary  should  seek  to  hasten, — namely,  the 
building  up  of  an  autonomous  native  church.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  missionaries  may  throw  all  responsibility  upon  the  native 
organization,  and  give  themselves  entirely  to  advance  work  as 
evangelists :  this,  too,  is  not  wise,  for  the  young  native  pastors 
need  the  help  of  the  older  and  more  experienced  men  who  have 
behind  them  the  history  and  traditions  of  centuries  of  Evangeli- 
cal faith  and  practice.  The  third  possible  solution  seeks  to  estab- 
lish some  kind  of  union  and  co-operation  between  the  mission- 
aries and  the  native  church.  The  missionaries  may  unite  with 
the  native  ministers  in  forming  native  courts,  or  the  courts  may 
be  organized  v/ith  only  the  native  ministers,  the  missionaries  at- 
tending as  advisory  members. 

This  third  solution  is  the  one  generally  adopted,  but  it  gives 
rise  to  many  anomalous  situations.  If  the  missionary  is  a  full 
member  of  the  native  court,  he  is  a  servant  serving  two  masters. 
His  movements  are  directed  by  the  mission,  representing  the 
home  Board;  yet,  at  the  same  time,  a  church  court  is  supposed 
to  have  the  direction  of  the  movements  and  the  work  of  its 
members.  If  the  missionary  is  not  fully  identified  ecclesiastically 
with  the  native  court,  the  anomaly  changes  form  but  does  not 
cease  to  exist.  We  then  have  a  minister  performing  all  the  minis- 
terial functions  of  preaching,  discipline,  organization  of  churches, 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  court  that  has  no  direction  or  control 
over  his  movements.  The  church  he  organizes,  shepherds  and 
disciplines  is  supposed  to  belong  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  superior 
court,  yet  the  court  has  no  review  or  control.  This  is  truly 
anomalous.  But  the  missionary  is  not  the  only  man  who  is  in  an 
anomalous  position.    The  mission  employs  native  evangelists  and 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        175 

secures  the  services  of  native  pastors  to  care  for  churches  he  has 
organized.  The  power  of  the  purse  is  supposed  to  carry  with  it 
some  power  of  direction  and  control,  yet  this  native  pastor  or 
evangelist  is  a  regular  member  of  his  church  court,  and  pre- 
sumably under  its  direction.  It  is  not  hard  for  an  ecclesiastic 
to  see  how  complications,  many  and  irritating,  may  arise  under 
such  circumstances.  They  have  arisen  in  times  past  in  Brazil 
and  in  other  mission  fields,  and  it  requires  great  tact  and  skill, 
with  much  of  the  spirit  of  prudence  and  humility  to  avoid  con- 
stant friction. 

Many  of  the  serious  and  difficult  complications  on  mission 
fields  grow  out  of  these  delicate  and  anomalous  situations ;  and  if 
the  Boards  are  to  make  large  advances  in  the  great  work,  increas- 
ing the  number  of  missionaries  and  the  amount  of  funds  used 
in  the  enlargement  of  the  work  done  through  the  agency  of  the 
native  workers,  it  behooves  them  to  study  anew  these  questions 
with  a  view  to  avoiding  the  difficulties  of  the  past  for  which 
neither  the  missionaries  nor  the  natives  can  be  said  to  be  re- 
sponsible.    The  difficulties  have  grown  out  of  the  conditions. 

The  most  satisfactory  solution  yet  found  is  cne  adopted  by  the 
Central  Brazil  Mission  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Church,  one 
of  the  two  missions  of  that  church  in  Brazil.  The  plan  has  'been 
in  operation  several  years,  and  is  highly  recommended  by  tli 
missionaries  in  that  field,  as  well  as  by  all  the  native  ministers 
who  have  worked  in  connection  with  it.  It  establishes  a  modus 
operandi  between  the  mission  and  the  presbytery,  defining  clearly 
the  rights  of  each.  A  scheme  of  aid  from  the  mission  to  the 
nascent  congregations  is  established,  and  a  natural  and  easy 
method  by  which  the  congregations  formed  may  pass  from  the 
care  of  the  mission  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  presbytery  is  ar- 
ranged. This  plan  was  prepared  as  a  working  basis  of  relations 
between  the  mission  and  a  presbytery;  but,  with  modifications, 
it  could  doubtless  be  applied  as  well  in  the  case  of  a  mission  and 
a  Methodist  court,  or  between  a  mission  and  a  Baptist  congrega- 
tion. This  plan  of  the  Central  Brazil  Mission  will  probably  serve 
as  the  basis  of  relations  between  the  missions  and  the  native 
church  courts  when  the  Evangelical  churches  enter  upon  their 
enlarged  plans  of  action  under  the  new  inspiration  of  missionary 
zeal. 

It  may  be  well  to  mention  here  that,  as  a  matter  of  history 


176        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

all  of  the  native  churches  organized  in  Brazil,  so  far,  have  been 
organized  on  the  plan  of  the  full  union  of  natives  and  mission- 
aries. The  Presbyterian  Synod  organized  in  1888,  set  the  ex- 
amples, and  all  others  have  followed  it.  The  missionaries  are 
full  members  of  the  courts,  taking  part  in  all  discussions  and 
voting  on  all  questions.  There  have  been  several  movements 
started  with  a  view  to  changing  the  status,  but  these  movements 
have  never  succeeded.  The  personal  convictions  of  the  writer 
are  against  these  full  unions :  he  believes  the  missionaries  would 
be  able  to  help  the  native  courts  more  efficiently  as  corresponding 
members,  having  the  privilege  of  the  floor  for  discussion  and 
counsel,  but  not  having  the  right  of  vote.  There  is  much,  how- 
ever, to  be  -said  on  both  sides  of  the  question ;  and  it  is  one  thing 
to  oppose  the  adoption  of  a  certain  modus  vivendi,  and  quite 
another  to  urge  its  discontinuance,  once  it  has  been  adopted. 
After  twenty-one  years  of  co-operation  on  the  present  basis,  it 
would  be  a  great  mistake  to  insist  on  an  abrupt  change  of  rela- 
tions. Nothing  of  the  kind  should  be  done  now  without  full  and 
frank  conference  with  the  native  courts ;  and  the  preferences  of 
the  native  brethren  should  have  great  weight  in  deciding  the 
matter. 

In  view  of  the  plans  for  enlarged  effort,  however,  it  might  be 
wise  to  have  the  question  taken  up  de  novo,  and  thoroughly  can- 
vassed, in  full  and  frank  conference  between  native  workers,  mis- 
sionaries and  secretaries.  There  should  be  the  most  cordial 
understanding  between  the  mission  and  the  native  churches  on 
all  these  questions,  for  the  great  work  can  be  hastened  only  by  the 
hearty  co-operation  of  all  the  forces  in  action. 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        177 


APPENDIX  III 


INDUSTRIAL    EDUCATION    AND    SELF    HELP. 

The  necessity  of  educational  work  at  the  present  stage  of 
missionary  enterprise  in  Brazil  is  unquestionable  and  the  value 
of  this  work,  if  well  directed,  is  incalculable,  but  a  serious  prob- 
lem arises  in  connection  with  it. 

The  existence  of  good  Evangelical  schools  suitable  for  meeting 
the  needs  of  the  native  church  in  Brazil  does  not  entirely  solve 
the  problem.  It  is  necessary  that  the  advantages  of  these  schools 
be  placed  within  reach  of  the  people  for  whom  they  are  primarily 
intended.  It  has  already  been  stated  that  Brazil's  population  is 
sparse,  and  it  should  also  be  said  that  the  majority  of  the  church 
people  live  in  the  country  districts.  An  Evangelical  school 
canriOt  be  placed  within  reach  of  every  home;  and  to  place  the 
advantages  of  Christian  education  within  the  reach  of  any  con- 
siderable number  of  the  Christian  communit}^,  educational,  centres 
must  be  established.  But  this  means  boarding  schools,  and  board- 
ing schools  mean  large  expense.  In  some  of  the  oriental  countries 
a  boy  or  girl  can  be  fed,  clothed,  and  housed  for  a  pittance. 
Not  so  in  Brazil :  living  is  expensive.  And  while  the  expenses 
incident  to  the  running  of  a  boarding  school  are  heavy,  the  large 
majority  of  the  church  people  are  too  poor  to  bear  the  expense 
of  educating  a  child. 

What,  then,  shall,  be  done?  Shall  the  schools  be  supported 
from  mission  funds,  and  boys  and  girls  be  given  bed  and  board 
and  instruction  gratis?  By  no  means.  No  Board  can  stand  the 
drain  entailed  upon  its  funds  in  the  education  of  the  hundreds 
of  boys  and  girls  who  would  clamor  for  admission.  Besides  this 
eleemosynary  education  is  not  a  good  basis  on  which  to  build 
character:  it  relaxes  the  fibre  of  manhood  and  develops  a  para- 
sitical spirit. 

This  question  is  very  vitally  related  also  to  the  problem  of 
preparing  a  native  ministry.    These  native  pastors  and  evangelists 


178        The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil 

are  an  absolute  necessity  to  the  success  of  the  mission  work,  but 
how  shall  they  be  provided?  Most  of  the  young  fellows  who  offer 
themselves  for  this  work  come  from  homes  of  comparative 
poverty,  and  their  families  can  do  but  little,  often  nothing  at  all, 
toward  their  education.  What  shall  be  done?  Shall  they  be 
educated  at  the  expense  of  the  missions  or  of  the  native  church? 
Hardly.  Aside  from  the  undesirability  of  eleemosynary  educa- 
tion, even  for  ministerial  candidates ;  aside  from  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  lads  who  offer  themselves  as  candidates  for  the 
ministry  have  very  hazy  ideas  as  to  what  constitutes  a  call  to 
the  ministry,  and  a  considerable  number  of  them  give  up  before 
reaching  the  goal;  aside  from  all  these  considerations,  the  train- 
ing of  these  young  men  would  be  a  heavy  expense  to  the  missions, 
while  the  native  church  needs  all  of  its  funds  for  pastoral  support 
and  for  evangelistic  work,  and  can  ill  afford  to  spend  two  or 
three  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  from  five  to  eight  years  to  give 
one  of  these  lads  academic  and  college  training. 

All  of  these  considerations  militate  strongly  against  the  sys- 
tem of  eleemosynary  education,  whether  at  the  expense  of  the 
mission,  or  at  the  expense  of  the  native  church.  But  what  shall 
be  done?  The  church  must  have  native  pastors  and  evangelists; 
and  the  youth  of  the  Evangelical  Church  must  have  educational 
advantages. 

After  twenty  years  of  close  and  constant  contact  with  the 
work  in  almost  all  of  its  different  phases,  the  writer  is  convinced 
that  the  only  solution  of  the  educational  problem  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Churches  of  Brazil  is  to  be  found  in  the  Industrial  School, 
organized  on  the  principal  of  self-help.  The  extent  to  which  the 
industrial  element  should  be  developed,  and  the  exact  direction 
given  to  it,  will  depend  largely  upon  local  conditions.  The  ideal 
plant  is  one  near  a  small  town  where  living  is  not  expensive, 
and  where  a  small  farm  can  be  secured  on  reasonable  terms.  The 
ptiiil.j  should  grow  most  of  the  supplies  needed,  and  should  do 
a  i.irge  part  of  the  domestic  work.  This  will  reduce  expenses 
to  a  mimimum.  If  the  work  of  class-room  and  industrial  de- 
partmen  is  well  done,  the  school  will  always  command  the 
jiatronag  c  of  a  considerable  number  who  can  and  will  gladly  pay 
full  rates,  and  this,  too,  will  do  much  toward  defraying  the 
K^v-nses   of  the   institution.     Given   a   plant   ready   for   efficient 


The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil        179 

work,    the    school,    up    to  the  point  of  high-school  training,  can, 
under  efficient  management,  easily  be  made  self-supporting 

The  reader  has  already  seen  in  Chapter  VII  the  account  of 
several  enterprises  now  in  successful  operation,  particularly  the 
one  with  which  the  writer  is  most  familiar,  the  Presbyterian 
school  at  Lavras,  in  which  we  are  reaching  toward  an  approxi- 
mation of  the  ideal  just  set  forth.  One  of  the  great  needs  of 
Brazil,  however,  is  for  more  educational  institutions  along  these 
lines  with  far  more  liberal  resources  and  more  ample  equipment 


on  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Libr 


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